Conclusion to The Political Economy of Welfare in Latin America

Juan Cruz Ferre

Chapter 7 in The Political Economy of Welfare in Latin America, 2026, pp 219-231 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter reviews and summarizes the main findings of the empirical chapters and offers some key takeaways. The evidence in this book highlights the importance of crises of legitimacy, the balance of class forces, and policy legacies in shaping social policy outcomes. The book also identifies three enduring sources of inequality—occupational stratification, means-tested layering, and private sector growth. These elements have steered the region toward liberal, rather than universal, welfare models. The center-left's reliance on state institutions had a demobilizing effect on popular, working-class movements, ultimately disarming them of their transformative potential. The study urges political activists to rethink strategies for social change beyond the constraints of capitalist state structures and reformist political projects.

Keywords: Universalism; Social policy change; Latin America; Pink Tide; Reformism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035371334
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035371341.00012 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:24939_7

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().