The Crossroads: The Political Economy of the Pandemic

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the management of the global coronavirus pandemic with a critical focus on global neoliberalism and from the perspective of Latin America. As we argue, after decades of austerity programs and multiple rounds of macroeconomic crises, many lessons can be gleaned as to how global neoliberalism operates. In order to make sense of the global response to the pandemic and how it has been presented to the public, we not only draw on almost a half century of economic history—Latin American and otherwise—but also on the theoretical framework established by Karl and Kari Polanyi. As we argue, the pandemic response can be best understood as the most recent example of Disaster Capitalism, with the underlying goal of strengthening and expanding the reach of the global neoliberal project, and neutralizing any response to it.