ABSTRACT
The Latin American continent has seen an unprecedented drop in income inequality amidst a vigorous return to economic growth, with indicators at levels not seen for quite some time (4.1% p.a. on average for the region as a whole from 2004–2013, as opposed to 2.7% p.a. for the period 1984–2003, according to IMF, 2014). This recent growth with equity has been cast as a paradox (Boyer, 2014), as it goes against the grain of tendencies observed in other regions around the world at the turn of this century, as well as the trajectory of this region over the 20th century. In Göran Therborn’s words, in the chapter that lends the book its title, Latin America is experiencing a “moment of equality.” Is this unexpected inversion simply a parenthesis in the development of Latin America, or a historical breakthrough in a region marked by extraordinary levels of inequality? To what extent does this virtuous coincidence reflect structural changes capable of ushering in a new era in development, free of the impasses that for decades hindered the expansionary potential of such a rich, diverse, and plural region?
