The Market and the Masses in Latin America
Policy Reform and Consumption in Liberalizing Economies

Baker argues that a political economy of consumption has replaced a previously dominant politics of labor and class in Latin America.

Andy Baker (Author)

9780521899680, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 March 2009

358 pages
23.4 x 16 x 2.8 cm, 0.6 kg

'Andy Baker has written an impressive study of political economy and a pioneering work of public opinion formation in Latin America. [He] marshals an abundance of survey evidence in support of the theoretical claim that Latin Americans cast ballots as consumers, not as producers.' Fabrice Lehoucq, Bulletin of Latin American Research

What do ordinary citizens in developing countries think about free markets? Conventional wisdom views globalization as an imposition on unwilling workers in developing nations, concluding that the recent rise of the Latin American left constitutes a popular backlash against the market. In this book, Baker marshals public opinion data from eighteen Latin American countries to show that most of the region's citizens are enthusiastic about globalization because it has lowered the prices of many consumer goods and services while improving their variety and quality. Among recent free-market reforms, only privatization has caused pervasive discontent because it has raised prices for services like electricity and telecommunications. Citizens' sharp awareness of these consumer consequences informs Baker's argument that a political economy of consumption has replaced a previously dominant politics of labor and class in Latin America.

Part I. Introduction and Theory: 1. Consuming the Washington consensus
2. Theoretical framework: the top-down and bottom-up sources of public opinion
Part II. Mass Beliefs about Market Policies in Latin America: 3. The economic consequences and elite rhetoric of market reform in Latin America
4. Are Latin Americans neoliberals?
5. Are the poor neoliberals?
Part III. Mass Support for Reform in Brazil: 6. The economic consequences and elite rhetoric of market reform in Brazil
7. How many Brazilians support market reforms?
8. Which Brazilians support market reforms?
Part IV. Conclusion: 9. The politics of consumismo in Latin America.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], International relations [JPS], Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA]