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8-9/2004		  

[ Latin America ]

New development approaches discussed

Which way will the debate on development policy in Latin America head in the coming years? Experts from various disciplines and development cooperation have been considering these questions and exchanging ideas in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, on a forum concerning “New development approaches for Latin America” hosted by the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the Institute for Ibero-American Studies Hamburg. The debate will continue in the coming months on the internet. InWEnt will organise this discussion.

Today almost 55 percent of Latin Americans would choose an authoritarian government, if this would solve their economic problems. 25 years on from the rebirth of its democracy, the continent is standing at the crossroads. On the one hand Latin America is now the first continent in the developing world whose leaders are democratically-elected. On the other hand frustration is growing about the way in which elected representatives use and abuse their power. Low rates of economic growth, an ever-increasing gap between rich and poor, inadequate state structures and a lack of social services are firing up growing dissatisfaction. The first generation of Latin Americans which has grown up in a democratic environment, has never known any different.

Against this background the question of “where to from here?” is one which is of interest to many involved in Latin American politics, not just the experts. Bringing together scholars and practitioners from both sides of the ocean the forum was organised as a reaction to current debates on the continent as well as within the development community. The participants were united in their wish for debate to continue on the interface between theory and practice, paying special attention to Latin American experience and discourse. InWEnt agreed to take responsibility for this task.


Search for alternatives

“Otra economía es posible!/A different kind of economy is possible!” This was the motto of a regional “social forum” in Buenos Aires at the beginning of June, where people from Argentina and its neighbouring countries met to consider a “solidarity economy”. Today every second person in this once-prosperous country lives below the poverty line. Many of those who earned a decent wage before national bankruptcy two years ago, now have to struggle to survive. An extensive alternative economy has consequently emerged, which includes small collectives, barter markets, unemployed worker movements and factories which have been taken over by their workers.
“Since the beginning of this century the neo-liberal development ideals which dominated Latin America in the 1990s have become increasingly obsolete”, says Ulrich Müller of the GTZ, who helped to organise the meeting in Asunción. “The market economy reforms geared towards these ideals did in fact lead to short-term improvement of some macroeconomic indicators in many Latin American countries, but at the same time they aggravated the ‘level of social debt’”, Klaus Bodemer from the Institute for Ibero-American Studies adds. According to Müller and Bodemer it is typical of the current debate here that participants are largely agreed on what they don’t want, but not at all on what they do want or on the direction they should be taking. The present dialogue aims to make a contribution to this debate.

This rather depressing conclusion begs the question, to what extent have traditional development paradigms contributed to the situation, and what new ideals does Latin America need to ensure that the aims of sustainability, social fairness and democracy/decentralisation are achieved? According to Müller and Bodemer various approaches to this question are currently being discussed on both sides of the Atlantic, although these are usually discussed within separate regional, specialist and practice-related or theory-related forums. Debate is necessary on the capability of any new ideals to counterbalance the renewed tide of neo-populist and neo-authoritarian influences.

Latin American partners attended the forum in Asunción, along with German experts and academics. From the four introductory presentations by Dr. Klaus Bodemer, Dr. Ricardo Martner (UN Economic Commission for Latin America/CEPAL), Dr. Rolando Franco (The Inter-American Development Bank/BID) and Barbara Hess (GTZ), it became clear that it is presently impossible to estimate which path the continent will take. Later, feasible development approaches were examined from different points of view in three intensive, parallel workshops.

The first working party, “institutional innovations ‘from the top’”, which was oriented towards the meta and macro-levels, discussed the question of whether the “Washington Consensus” and the “social market economy” should be understood as alternatives or whether they complement each other. Past and alternative development paradigms were also appraised, along with the issue of how much attention should be devoted to the state and its institutions within the framework of a normative and global analysis (see also the article by Christian von Haldenwang on systemic governance in D+C 7/2004).

The question of how knowledge-based decisions and those based on the common good can be initiated and effected at different levels, formed the link to the second working party, “institutional innovations ‘from the bottom’”. This working group mainly discussed integrated concepts of regional development, how disadvantaged groups such as youth can be empowered, plus the ethical responsibility of the individual (as in fighting corruption, for instance). Endogenous potentials, competitiveness and public/private partnerships were further keywords.

The third working party, “technological innovations”, expanded on the discussions of both the other groups. Starting with the question of how technological innovation can contribute to the development of a society, there was an exchange of views on whether the unjust distribution of new technologies is connected to shortcomings in the private sector, meaning that the role of the public sector should be invigorated. The requirement to make increasing use of the opportunities for negotiation which are offered by the region’s huge variety of resources, as well as the new emissions trading, is a move in the right direction.


“Recommendations of Asunción”

During the forum it became clear that it would be wrong to condemn out of hand the “old” development paradigms (from dependency theory to the Washington Consensus), failing to recognise their limited, context-dependent achievements. Equally, to rashly promote context-independent new concepts in the wake of the “Post-Washington Consensus” would be premature. The outcomes of the two-day forum were summarised in the “Recommendations of Asunción”.

“We will make the ‘Recommendations of Asunción’ available to the subsequent virtual discussion”, says Brigitta Villaronga Walker of InWEnt’s Lima office. “We will set up a virtual forum (Shared Work Space – SWS) in InWEnt’s Global Campus 21 (www.gc21.de). Large amounts of data can be kept available on this electronic dialogue and learning platform, ready for downloading.” According to Villaronga Walker, the platform will offer an opportunity for discussion on the subjects mentioned, in the sense of a “virtual co-operation”. “We are thus supporting long-term the development of thematic and regional learning communities, as well as knowledge networks. In this way we are making a contribution to building a global knowledge society.” (see also D+C 8-9/2003).




Norbert Glaser
Norbert Glaser works as freelance journalist and editor for D+C Development and Cooerperation E+Z Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit.
norbert.glaser@fsd.de

Further information
on the virtual forum can be accessed on the homepage of InWEnt’s regional office in Lima (http:/www.inwent.org.pe. Participants can register under cooperacion@inwent.org.pe).