ABSTRACT
Studying Latin American development means studying the politics of contestation. Since the time of independence from European powers, Latin America has experimented with a range of development models, and the continent has both produced and been subject to a variety of economic, political and cultural thought concerned with the development question. Indeed, “development” as a concept and the modes of sensemaking that have coalesced around it are central to the emergence and consolidation of Latin America as a region. Latin America’s historical record provides some of the world’s most fascinating struggles between states and markets, between liberals and conservatives, between capitalism and socialism, between sustainability and environmental destruction, between democracy and dictatorship, and between different understandings about race and gender. Latin America has proved to be a challenging, rewarding and multifaceted development education for many scholars, practitioners and activists.
