Theory of crisis and the limits of neodevelopmentalism. Lessons from Argentina's experience, 2003-2011

FÉLIZ, MARIANO

Londres

Conferencia; Historical Materialism 2011 Eighth Annual Conference; 2011

SOAS / University of London

neodevelopmentalism - has come forward as the hegemonic discourse of dominantclasses. After the apparent failure of neoliberalism, this new set of policies have allowedmost countries in the region to regain high economic growth without altering thestructural legacies of the neoliberal project.As a guideline for economic policy, neodevelopmentalism presents the elements to -hopefully - avoid economic crisis. Most countries have adopted neodevelopmentalistteachings (a mixture of neokeynesianism and institutionalism), having become the neworthodoxy in the region. The most relevant have been the need to avoid real exchangerate devaluation, the necessity to abort the effect of rent producing natural resources andsustainable public finances, amongst others.In the case of Argentina such arguments seemed to have been successful in confrontingchanging international conditions and avoiding the development of crisis during 2008-2009. While the most countries received the fullblown effect of the international crisis,Argentina’s economy was able to contain and deflect them. In particular, while economicgrowth stumbled, recessionary conditions had relatively small effects in the accumulationof capital.In this article we discuss the theoretical elements of neodevelopmentalism in the light ofcurrent Marxian debate on crisis. This is a necessary task for the new orthodoxy has atendency to analyze capitalism as a controllable system, and not – as Marxian theory hasdemonstrated – as a crisis riddled system. Analyzing Argentina's policy debates andmacroeconomic developments during the last decade from a Marxian point of view, wewill show that crisis was avoided not by “successful neodevelopmentalism” but by theparticular articulation of contradictions in Argentina's capitalism and its displacement intime and space. In particular, we will analyze changes in capital composition, classcomposition and the dialectics between production and realization of value.