Resolved:
Unresolved:
In the discussion of complexity, let's not lose sight of the
historical contradictions that today remain obvious and
intractable, among which, I insist, are North/South and
center/periphery and, lest we forget, the contradictions between
and within classes, and among and within nations. Yes, the
contradictions we have focused on urban/rural,
metropolitan/non metropolitan, modern/traditional, high tech/low
tech, rich/poor, formal/informal, etc. are all fundamental,
and part of the historical process we are attempting to
understand better.
But for most people in the hemisphere, there
remains a real barrier between North and South because the new
mobility that has come with the latest wave of globalization has
principally affected capital (more than labor). For global
capital, there are no frontiers, or at least the frontiers are
more rapidly disappearing. Labor is still relatively confined
within historical boundaries national, urban, economic and
social. But for both capital and labor that old North/South
divide remains real, free market aspirations and "globalization" notwithstanding.
To North Americans, as a reality and a matter of perception,
Latin America is still "south of the border", and the border is
becoming a new Berlin Wall. I've never before quoted Ronald
Reagan, but I'll be forever be impressed by the revelation that came
to him on his trip to Central America, during his Presidency and
perhaps before the onset of his Alzheimers, that "they're all
different countries down there."
that the North/South, center/periphery dichotomies
are not adequate to explain contemporary urban inequalities in
the Americas (and globally).
what is adequate.
