Facing the future: the legacies of post neoliberalism

In this issue, Guest Editors Jean Grugel and Pia Riggirozzi outline the post neoliberal debate and ask whether the legacies of post-neoliberalism in Latin America will continue to reverberate and shape the region’s politics and political economy and if so, how. By exploring these questions Grugel and Riggirozzi discuss approaches to much-discussed topics of democratic citizenship and inclusive and sustainable development. While there is no settled debate, and certainly no settled practice in relation to democracy and development in current Latin America, the editors focus on the various forms of political and social contention surrounding post neoliberalism alternative policy paradigms. Surveying the literature published in Development and Change over the last decade, this virtual issue is concerned with three inter-linked themes: (i) the critique of neoliberal development, in which development itself frequently became conflated with growth and social and cultural homogeneity, and the articulation of alternatives in the shadow of the Sustainable Development Goals; (ii) the ever-present challenges of citizenship and democracy in Latin America, which have consistently underpinned demands for political, cultural and economic changes in the region since twentieth century; and (iii) the nexus between post-neoliberalism, the environment and the sustainability agenda, which is critical for the survival and wellbeing for many of the region’s peoples and communities. The articles reviewed in this issue cover a range of country experiences and trace the evolving critique to and opportunities of post-neoliberalism in Latin America. What becomes clear is that unsettled questions around citizenship, democracy and development are practical as well as theoretical. The Editors therefore propose a much-needed discussion about achievements, limitations and legacies of post-neoliberalism to make sense of its ideological and political economic prospects.