ABSTRACT
This chapter applies a global perspective to the analysis of contemporary Latin American affairs. The concept of globalization will be employed to describe the region's integration into an evolving world system that affects almost every major aspect of contemporary affairs in Latin America. A global perspective reveals that the economic, political, and sociocultural effects of capitalism have created extreme inequalities in the region as well as in the entire world. Most of the progressive parties and movements in Latin America recognize that they are seriously handicapped by their failure to offer an effective alternative to the reigning neoliberal project. The influence of the international women's movement on Latin American women has been one of the more progressive sociocultural effects of globalization on Latin America. The globalization of Latin America has stimulated many groups and communities to defend their identities and confront the more pernicious effects of globalization.
