Deslocamento e Hierarquia da Produção Global de Riqueza: Efeitos econômicos e sociais em países selecionados da América Latina e Ásia

Abstract

In view of the changes engendered by the financialized phase of capitalism, this study sought to analyze the transformations that the predominance of the financial sphere was able to undertake, centering the debate on changing the geographical location of the production of countries from the "center" to the "periphery". Based on an asymmetric process, it was emphasized that the movement occurs heterogeneously between Asian and Latin American regions and, therefore, produces different results. The theoretical background of the conceptions of François Chesnais and David Harvey about the process of constitution and conformation of the current phase of capitalism was used, characterized by the emergence of an “accumulation regime with financial dominance”. These will allow to highlight how the primacy of the logic of finance acted in order to consolidate a new geographical design of production and how these changes occurred under the context of a broader crisis of American hegemony. Through international trade data, it was observed the intensification of new forms of trade organization from the 2000s, as well as the asymmetry present in this dynamic. Asian economies, with a focus on China, take the lead in the process, reaping greater benefits in terms of economic performance when compared to Latin American economies. Also, through the comparative economic performance indicator originally created by Arrighi (1995), the effects of transformations in the productive sphere on what is understood to be the global wealth hierarchy were analyzed. It was found that the Chinese movement still does not represent a change in the composition of the hierarchy, since it does so at a slow pace, however, the country adds a set of new elements, such as the largest command of capital flows in the international scenario, which they can allow it to subvert that hierarchy and still occupy the position of dynamic center in the coming decades. Finally, economic and social indicators, such as the growth of the Gross Domestic Product and the Human Development Index, were examined in order to determine the effects of the processes described on the social sphere. It was found that, even in a growth scenario, the transformations undertaken were not able to enable structural changes in the development of countries considered "peripheral".