The struggle between Neoliberalism and Neodevelopmentalism political discourses in Latin America: how support for austerity policies was consolidated in the case of Brazil

Mesquita, Samantha Coelho

4. term

Development and International Relations, Master

2017

2017-07-31

61

Afhandlingen undersøger, hvordan støtte til sparetiltag blev opbygget i Brasilien i kølvandet på skiftet fra en neoudviklings-orienteret udviklingsstrategi til en nyliberal krisehåndtering. På baggrund af Latinamerikas erfaringer siden 1980’ernes gældskrise og Washington-konsensus—med vægt på handelsliberalisering og en reduceret stat—stiller studiet denne tilgang over for neoudviklings-tilgangen, der bygger på regionens egne historiske og sociale særtræk og søger inkluderende vækst gennem en aktiv stat. I Brasilien blev nyliberale reformer udbredt i 1990’erne, efterfulgt af over et årti med politikker inspireret af neoudviklings-tilgangen; den politiske og økonomiske krise fra 2014 banede imidlertid vejen for en ny bølge af stramningspolitik under præsident Michel Temer, herunder forfatningsændringen PEC 55, der indfører et langsigtet loft over offentlige udgifter. Afhandlingens forskningsspørgsmål er, hvordan regeringen i denne hegemoniske kamp mellem nyliberalisme og neoudviklings-tilgangen formåede at konsolidere politisk støtte til sparetiltag som hovedløsningen på krisen. Metodisk anvendes kritisk diskursanalyse i Faircloughs tradition i et kvalitativt casestudie med deduktiv teoretisk ramme, for at kortlægge, hvordan regeringsdiskursen trækker på forskellige udviklingsfortællinger, mobiliserer opbakning til austerity og positionerer sig i forhold til Brasiliens eksisterende socioøkonomiske magtstrukturer. Afhandlingen søger derved at belyse de diskursive mekanismer, der legitimerer kursændringen og kan få betydning for udviklingsdebatten i Latinamerika; empiriske resultater præsenteres ikke i det tilgængelige uddrag.

This thesis examines how political support for austerity was consolidated in Brazil as the country shifted from a neodevelopmentalist policy orientation to a neoliberal crisis response. Framed by Latin America’s post-1980s experience with the Washington Consensus—emphasizing trade liberalization and a reduced state role—the study contrasts this paradigm with neodevelopmentalism, an endogenous approach that re-centers the state to pursue socially inclusive growth. In Brazil, neoliberal reforms were prominent in the 1990s, followed by more than a decade of policies aligned with neodevelopmentalism; the political and economic turmoil from 2014, however, enabled a renewed push for austerity under President Michel Temer, including Constitutional Amendment PEC 55, which imposes a long-term cap on public spending. The research question asks how, within the struggle for hegemony between neoliberalism and neodevelopmentalism, the Brazilian government consolidated political support for austerity as the main solution to the crisis. Methodologically, the thesis employs critical discourse analysis in the Fairclough tradition within a qualitative case study and a deductive theoretical frame to trace how government discourse draws on competing development narratives, mobilizes support for austerity, and positions itself in relation to Brazil’s socio-economic power structures. The study aims to clarify the discursive mechanisms that legitimize this policy turn and its implications for development debates in Latin America; empirical findings are not reported in the provided excerpt.

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