The different paths of modernization of Latin American structuralism: State, market and austerity in the views of Aníbal Pinto and Osvaldo Sunkel (1970-1990)

Abstract

The disruptive processes that brought an end to the Golden Age of capitalism, the external debt crisis, and the spread of neoliberal ideas and policies challenged the forms of state intervention and the management of public finances that had been consolidated under the European welfare state and Latin American developmentalism. This context posed enormous challenges for CEPAL’s economic thought. In this paper, I aim to analyze the responses formulated by Aníbal Pinto and Osvaldo Sunkel, who represented two different paths for the modernization of structuralist ideas during the 1970s and 1980s. While Pinto remained a guardian of the CEPAL tradition, emphasizing the centrality of industrialization and the active role of the State in development, Sunkel proposed a neostructuralist strategy that more explicitly articulated the CEPAL thought with elements drawn from neoliberal critiques — such as the valorization of market mechanisms, the emphasis on maintaining macroeconomic balances, and the advocacy of greater trade liberalization.