Discipline and Development: Middle Classes and Prosperity in East Asia and Latin America [Paperback]

An examination of South Korea's and Taiwan's economic successes and Argentina's and Mexico's relative 'failures' through their rural middle classes.This book shows that the key to successful economic development in late industrializers rests in the state's capacity to discipline capitalists in the service of national economic growth. It then seeks to understand what gives certain countries (South Korea and Taiwan) the capacity to discipline capitalists, while others (Mexico and Argentina) find themselves at the receiving end of industrialists' political and economic power, unable to do so. The answer rests in a closer examination of middle classes, especially rural middle classes, and the extent to which they achieve sufficient political sway in politics, society, and thus the state to impose such discipline.This book shows that the key to successful economic development in late industrializers rests in the state's capacity to discipline capitalists in the service of national economic growth. It then seeks to understand what gives certain countries (South Korea and Taiwan) the capacity to discipline capitalists, while others (Mexico and Argentina) find themselves at the receiving end of industrialists' political and economic power, unable to do so. The answer rests in a closer examination of middle classes, especially rural middle classes, and the extent to which they achieve sufficient political sway in politics, society, and thus the state to impose such discipline.Revealing that the key to successful economic development in late industrializers rests in the state's capacity to discipline capitalists, this study sheds light on why certain countries (South Korea and Taiwan) have the capacity to discipline capitalists, while others (Mexico and Argentina) find themselves at the receiving end of industrialists' political and economic power. Closer examination of middle classes, especially rural middle classes, reveals the extent to which they achieve sufficient polilÏ