Depois das reformas: Os regimes de proteção social latino-americanos na década de 2000

Abstract

This paper aims to characterize the social policy regimes in Latin America during the 2000s, a context which has been described as an inflexion point for the penetration of neoliberal policies. With data on the role of the state, the market and families in protecting against social risks (collected from various sources, such as ECLAC, IMF, World Bank, WHO, etc.), I employed Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for empirically examining the issue. Comparing the data for the 1990s and the 2000s, a relative stabilization can be identified in the pace of neoliberal reforms. Comparing the results of PCA with the literature, particularly with the literature concerning the 1980s and 1990s, I argue that, though restrained, the reforms rendered the social policy landscape in Latin America more complex in the 2000s. A first dimension, already widely discussed in the literature, was disclosed by the PCA, defined by the degree to which the State includes the population in its social policies. A second relevant dimension was revealed by the analysis, capturing the depth in which the market was installed as a social policy pillar. We discuss the hypothesis that this dimension became significant after the reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. Along with the argument that literature needs to be updated based on this more complex picture, I highlight the diversity of social policy regimes in Latin America both internally and in comparison with other regions of the world.