Social equity and changing production patterns: an integrated approach

Two years ago, the secretariat of ECLAC put forward a proposal for the development of the Latin American and Caribbean countries in the 1990s entitled Changing Production Patterns with Social Equity (1). This proposal, which marked a milestone in a process of analysis and reflection that had begun long before (2), was submitted to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean at its twenty-third session and was discussed at length on that occasion (3).

The proposal was originally conceived as part of an ongoing process involving the re-working of thoughts and ideas, rather than as a final product. In fact, however, it became the central point of reference for the thinking of the institution and, hence, a source of inspiration for the work carried out by the secretariat in preparation for the twenty-fourth session of the Commission (4).

During the 1990-1991 biennium, the secretariat focused its attention on certain aspects of the proposal which had not yet been developed fully. Some of the main such aspects were the role of social policy in changing production patterns with social equity (5), more detailed guidelines for the incorporation of a concern for the environment into the development process (6), the substance of an educational strategy geared to changing production patterns with social equity (7), and the role to be played by economic integration in the next stage of Latin American development (8).

In accordance with the mandate it received at the twenty-third session, in this document the secretariat has attempted to delve further into the links among technical progress, international competitiveness and social equity, although it does not, certainly, purport to have exhausted these subjects.

Two qualifying remarks are called for here. First, the secretariat is deliberately abstaining from becoming embroiled in the theoretical aspects of a controversy which has raged for centuries, and particularly since the French revolution, i.e., the debate surrounding the cause-and-effect relationships and possible areas of incompatibility among democratic governance, economic stability, growth and well-being. Rather than concerning itself with doctrine, the secretariat prefers to deal with the realities confronting virtually all the Governments of the region. These realities include the need to resume a sustained (and environmentally sustainable) growth process within the framework of the consolidation of pluralistic, democratic societies societies that are faced with very real demands to address the many ways in which the majority of the population has been bypassed by development.

Secondly, no attempt has been made in this document to provide a list of suitable policies for changing production patterns or for attaining greater social equity. Instead, the focus is on how certain pivotal analytical and policy aspects can be linked within an integrated approach so as to reinforce any existing areas of complementarity between efforts to achieve greater growth and efforts to seek greater social equity. This approach highlights the central tenet of the document: that growth, social equity and democracy can be compatible. What is more, there are significant but as yet largely unexplored areas in which social equity and changing production patterns complement and reinforce one another.

Notes 

 

(1) ECLAC, Changing Production Patterns with Social Equity. The Prime Task of Latin American and Caribbean Development in the 1990s (LC/G.1601-P), Santiago, Chile, 1990. United Nations publication, Sales No. E.90.II.G.6.

(2) For background on both recent and more remote developments in this regard, see ECLAC, Change and Crisis: Latin America and the Caribbean 1950-1984 (LC/L.332(Sem.22/3)), Santiago, Chile, 1985; Latin American and Caribbean Development: Obstacles, Requirements and Options (LC/G.1440-P), Cuadernos de la CEPAL series, No. 55, Santiago, Chile, 1987; and Towards Sustained Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: Restrictions and Requisites (LC/G.1540-P), Cuadernos de la CEPAL series, No. 61, Santiago, Chile, 1989.

(3) The proposal received widespread support from the member Governments. See ECLAC, Biennial Report. Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1990, Supplement No. 14 (LC/G.1630-P; E/1990/43), Santiago, Chile, 1990; in particular resolution 507(XXIII), Changing Production Patterns, Social Equity and the International Development Strategy.

(4) Santiago, Chile, April 1992.

(5) See ECLAC, Panorama Social de América Latina. Edición 1991 (LC/G.1688), Santiago, Chile, October 1991, and ECLAC, La equidad en el panorama social durante los años ochenta (LC/G.1686), Santiago, Chile, October 1991.

(6) See, for example, ECLAC, Sustainable Development: Changing Production Patterns, Social Equity and the Environment (LC/G.1648/Rev.2-P), Santiago, Chile, 1991. United Nations publication, Sales No. E.91.II.G.5.

(7) ECLAC/UNESCO, Education and Knowledge: Basic Pillars of Changing Production Patterns with Social Equity (LC/G.1702(SES.24/4)), Santiago, Chile, 1992.

(8) Document in progress.