ABSTRACT
This chapter examines why many Latin American countries whose economic development until the Second World War had been shaped overwhelmingly by agriculture and mining embarked on strategies that, instead, made industrialization a top priority. It looks at the main economic argument that justified this policy shift, a Latin American economic philosophy called 'structuralism', and the profound implications this would have for the state and the character of politics in the region. Dependency approaches grew in popularity in Latin America as criticisms that structuralist development policies had failed to tackle widespread poverty mounted and, as a result, these perspectives were more radical and political. Cuba's socialist economic model evolved under exceptional circumstances and is distinct from that of all the other Latin American states. In response, some Latin American states have at times pursued development strategies that have placed the need to tackle inequality through redistribution at the heart of the policy agenda.
