Latin American structuralism: A methodological perspective

Abstract

Latin American structuralism has played a central role in the debates on economic development theory and policy since the 1950s.The career of Raúl Prebisch has mirrored the trajectory of structuralism and can provide it an historical context. After noting the importance of structuralism, the article isolates its main tenets. It then places Latin American structuralism within the methodological tradition of structuralism which includes writers such as Piaget, Levi-Strauss and Chomsky in other disciplines. Methodological the key to the success of Latin American structuralism is its ability to isolate a deep structure of the international economy and to center its analysis around it. The understanding of the domestic economy and of short-run policy problems is less satisfactory. After a brief eclipse during the late 1970s, Latin American structuralism is currently a vital mode of understanding development problems, in this case through its marriage with a more formal, mathematical approach to knowledge originating in the United States.