ABSTRACT
The concluding chapter provides an overview of the debate and disputes over diverse experiments with alternative development in Latin America in the current context of a post-neoliberal transition. On the one hand, it dissects the discourse on capitalism and alternative forms of post-neoliberal, post-capitalist development and possible alternatives, including what Hugo Chávez conceived of as 21st century socialism. On the other hand, the chapter goes beyond a discourse analysis to analyse the political economy of concrete actions taken by diverse economic actors, particularly the governments that make up what has been described as the progressive cycle of Latin American politics. The chapter analyzes the concrete actions taken by these governments in the direction of progressive change, inclusive development and extractivism, with a particular concern with, and an analytical focus on, the contradictions between the development and extractivist strategies and policies of these governments. The chapter also advances the notion of varieties of capitalism and defends the position that capitalism and development should not be equated—that ‘development’ as a concrete social formation both precedes and will likely follow capitalism; and that developments such as the socialism of the 21st century, and even Living Well (Buen Vivir), include both capitalist and non-capitalist and post-capitalist varieties.
