Neoliberalism and the Sociology of Development: Emerging Trends and Unanticipated Facts

This article reviews sociological theories of development and their predictive successes and failures. It examines changes in the global economy that led to the hegemony of a market-oriented approach to development. Limitations of this approach are examined along three lines: (1) the erratic record of results of the application of neoliberal adjustment models; (2) failures of a market-oriented trickle-down approach to social equity; and (3) responses of local groups via emigration and the rise of transnational entrepreneurial communities. The significant role of population characteristics class structure and the character of the state in accounting for these trends is highlighted with particular attention to countries and communities in Latin America. An alternative set of propositions based on recent sociological theories of the economy is advanced. (EXCERPT) (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)