There is a consensus that the region is going through a period of crisis manifested in different dimensions: an economic crisis expressed as fiscal crises of states, indebtedness, austerity measures, privatizations, etc.; an employment crisis expressed as unemployment, the spread of precarious jobs, informality, low wages, etc.; a crisis of social reproduction/care, expressed as the defunding of social policies and the expropriation of livelihoods due to the advance of capital in different spheres of social life and nature; and an ecological crisis expressed as climate change, the predatory appropriation of the environment, neo-extractivism, and the crisis of the Anthropocene. This multiplicity of phenomena is rooted in the particularities of the development of capitalism in the region. The specific place that Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) occupies in the international division of labor has been the driving force behind intense academic and political debates. In contrast to the mainstream social sciences, which have historically focused on describing a "deviation" of the region from the development model of core countries, Latin American social scientists have sought to establish their regional and national particularities. From the very beginning of colonial relations, sharp debates arose regarding the nature of the mode of production in Latin America (both before and after colonization) (Iñigo Carrera, 2017; Marchena Fernández et al., 2020; Schlez et al., 2026), challenging perspectives that focused analysis on the mere persistence of feudal or pre-capitalist relations and instead discussing the specific nature of capitalism in the region. Far from being a purely academic debate, these controversies were central to the programmatic disputes of left-wing governments and parties seeking to articulate common action in the 1960s (Grenat, 2025; Grenat, 2026).

In this context, a broad debate developed around Dependency Theory (Cardoso, 1973) and its influential Marxist version (Marini, 1972), which clashed with both the developmentalist perspectives promoted by ECLAC (Prebisch, 1949) and the liberal perspectives centered on the adoption or rejection of comparative advantage (Bauer, 1969; Solow, 1956). The colonial question, marked by power (Quijano, 2000) and imperialism centered on commercial dominance, direct investment, and military influence (especially in the Caribbean) (Cassá, 2023), gave rise to increasingly national perspectives and a programmatic tension between the pursuit of socialism with local characteristics and a nationalist-leaning developmentalism. These crucial debates, which dominated the decades from the 1950s to the 1970s, lost momentum with the rise of globalization and neoliberalism, but resurfaced with vigor after the commodities boom of the 2000s. In this new century, critical readings of (neo)developmentalism reappeared (Katz, 2015), placing a strong emphasis on extractivism and the plundering of natural resources. The struggle then emerged between nationalist perspectives that advocated for utilizing the wealth associated with the export of natural resources and local approaches focused on environmental preservation and degrowth (Acosta and Brand, 2018; Martínez Alier, 2015).

Currently, this tension is becoming more complex. The crisis triggered by the end of the commodities boom, along with evidence of climate change, the growing influence of countries specializing in export-oriented manufacturing, and the exodus of their populations (who provide remittances), coupled with the expansion of the production and export of illicit goods, demonstrate that focusing exclusively on raw materials is insufficient to account for regional heterogeneity. In fact, the Central American region has transitioned from supplying tropical goods to becoming a source of cheap labor for global value chains (Tortós et al., 2023). Furthermore, the evidence that the export of raw materials generates extraordinary income (land rent) (Marx, 1973) and not merely a "drain of wealth" has challenged linear views of South-to-North transfers and problematized the apparent relative local autonomy of governments in their statist phase (Iñigo Carrera, 2017). The contrast between countries that maintain industrial development focused on both domestic and export markets and those that specialize exclusively in the export of raw materials is also reflected in the shaping of social dynamics. Tensions in labor relations reveal a growing fragmentation of the workforce and the expansion of a population that is relatively surplus to capital (González Cáceres, 2024; Seiffer et al., 2012). This implies greater fragmentation in terms of working conditions and qualifications, but also in relation to gender. The rise of feminist movements is increasingly linked to an expansion of women's entry into the labor market, but this is not always accompanied by better conditions; it is also marked by regional and job heterogeneity and a greater burden of domestic work (Arruzza et al., 2019; Seiffer, 2024).

The study of the unique characteristics of Latin America and the Caribbean is further complicated by the emerging effects of technological change (Industry 4.0/AI). The emergence of a global hub specializing in export-oriented manufacturing, beginning in the 1970s—first in Korea and Japan, then in Southeast Asia, and culminating in China as its epicenter in the 21st century—gave rise to what various authors have termed the "New International Division of Labor" (NIDL), based on the technological revolution brought about by microelectronics and the development of new forms of telecommunications (Fröbel et al., 1980). However, Charnock and Starosta (2016) consider the foundation of this transformation to be the incorporation of relatively overpopulated rural areas into the workforce of large-scale industry. These transformations challenged the domestic market-oriented industry and gave rise to export specialization, albeit unevenly. The questions that arise with these new technological changes are: what are the prospects for the survival of this domestic market industry in the region (outside of Brazil), and what are the prospects for the industry associated with global value chains, given the reshoring that process automation may entail? These changes reflect the geopolitical tensions in the region, with China's growing centrality as an export destination and investor, in open competition with the US.

In this project, we propose to advance from a perspective that addresses the unity of analysis between the economy and its political forms of realization, transcending a nationally focused view. We will approach the region from a perspective that, in critical engagement with dominant dependency and developmentalist traditions, can account for the course that is emerging when both the demand for raw materials and the foundations of low-wage export-oriented industrialization change. To analyze local changes, we will return to a perspective within the critique of political economy that considers capitalism as global in its content, realized in national forms. This approach is fundamental for analyzing political changes—marked by the crisis of anti-neoliberal perspectives (Kornblihtt et al., 2016) and the consolidation or return of authoritarian governments, along with the increased influence of the United States in the region—in relation to the forms that the advancement of new technologies takes in global capitalism.

The production of goods for the valorization of capital shapes social relations; however, far from being uniform, it occurs in differentiated ways across regions and countries. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) historically specialized in the provision of raw materials of natural and mineral origin, a specificity that, although it underwent transformations since the colonial period, has persisted. The growth of manufacturing production for domestic markets, which characterized Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI), entered a crisis in the 1970s. This crisis was driven by the emergence of the New International Division of Labor (NIDL), marked by the automation of processes and a global redefinition of work (Grinberg, 2025). The NIDL allowed regions such as Southeast Asia to expand their industrial production based on low wages and a disciplined working class.

For Latin America and the Caribbean, this global realignment entailed a crisis in domestic manufacturing, which only survived significantly in Argentina, Venezuela, and Brazil. The rest of the region deepened its specialization in the export of raw materials, with the emergence of low-wage manufacturing in the Caribbean and Mexico. The contraction of local production led to a sharp expansion of the surplus working population throughout the region (González Cáceres, 2024; Seiffer et al., 2012). The result was a less uniform Latin America with greater divergence in its political systems.

This divergence intensified during the so-called "commodities boom" of the 2000s. The expansion of raw material sales accelerated existing specialization. Even in Argentina and Brazil, where attempts were made to revitalize industrial production, the weight of primary exports increased; in Venezuela, the last vestiges of manufacturing for the domestic market were seen (Kornblihtt and Casique, 2024). The rest of the continent, including Central America, which transitioned from supplying tropical goods to becoming a source of cheap labor for global value chains, deepened its specialized trends. Far from reversing, the growth of the surplus population intensified, generating increasing migration crises and a growing reliance on remittances. This whole process developed a region that was increasingly lagging behind in terms of labor productivity, both in the countries that concentrate the original technological development (R&D) and in those that adopt and transform these technologies (Grinberg, 2025; Iñigo Carrera, 2008).

Since economic activity cannot occur without political mediation, the transformation process was realized through changes in the forms of state intervention and class struggle. The reduced weight of manufacturing production led to a sharp decline in unionism and labor activism (with the exception of countries that still maintain a manufacturing sector). This gave rise to the growth of social movements as a way to organize the increasing surplus population (Pacheco & Atienza Rela, 2024; Rojas Urueña, 2022). The expansion of the productive frontier and the transformation of the environment also generated increasing territorial tension with local populations, such as conflicts over water, pollution, and the displacement of inhabitants due to the expansion of land and production areas (Rojas Urueña, 2022; Rojas, 2025). In turn, this dynamic of economic fragmentation developed with increasing pressure on family reproduction (Kennedy and Águila, 2020). Transformations in the division of labor have reconfigured women's participation in employment (Márquez, 2022) and led to the development of significant feminist struggles in defense of the conditions necessary for women to reproduce their workforce. In this context of impoverishment and fragmentation, housing problems are a prominent issue (Valente Santana, 2025), as is widespread job insecurity (Tavárez Vásquez & Bosch Carcuro, 2025; López, 2025; Cazón, Kennedy, and Weksler, 2023).

As a result of regional fragmentation, integration processes entered into crisis (Fitzsimons & Guevara, 2023). While some countries are moving towards free trade, a few others maintain protectionism. The emergence of China imposes new geopolitical relationships that are fraught with tension with the US, although integration with this new export center is not based on protectionism, but rather on deepening free trade accompanied by infrastructure investments.

In summary, transformations in the division of labor differentiated the region without abandoning its original colonial structure. In recent years, the emergence of Industry 4.0 and Artificial Intelligence (AI) raises the question of whether the division of labor may be undergoing another transformation (López, 2025; Grinberg, 2025). Tensions are beginning to appear in the globalization of capital, with reshoring processes and transformations in global value chains. This creates new problems for countries that specialized in exporting manufactured goods based on low-skilled or cheaply skilled labor (such as Costa Rica). At the same time, the demands for raw materials are changing, with the emergence of lithium and the expansion of oil and mining demand (Segura, 2023).

The project aims to promote the development of a political economy critique approach for the applied study of structural transformations in Latin America and the Caribbean. It addresses the productive heterogeneity that arises from the New International Division of Labor (NIDL) and analyzes the impact of Industry 4.0 and Artificial Intelligence on production, social conflict, and geopolitical relations. It seeks to consolidate a rigorous alternative to neoclassical and developmentalist approaches, promoting the unity of analysis between economic and political relations through rigorously grounded research with strong empirical support. This will be achieved by fostering collaboration between countries with established research networks and CLACSO's priority regions, and by including generations of young researchers, ensuring the social and political relevance of the findings to national and regional processes.