Development planning, structural heterogeneity and social policy in the Southern Cone (1960-1975)

This paper analyzes the role of economic and social development ideas in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay during the 1960s and early-70s, emphasizing on the role of social issues within the development planning agenda. The paper's theoretical standpoint is the recognition of an important shift in the diagnosis of the Latin American economic backwardness around the mid-60s: from the underdevelopment hypothesis to the structural heterogeneity hypothesis. After an introduction of the theoretical discussions, the paper analyzes different official governmental documents from the four countries in order to find the role that social policy is expected to play within the economic development agenda in each case. Similarities and differences among the neighbors are specified in order to identify this conceptual shift, defined both theoretically and in the guidelines of public policy.