Benjamin Selwyn, University of Sussex, UK

The 'pink tide' in Latin America is drawing increasing criticisms for its inability to confront existing socio-structural inequalities. In this talk Benjamin Selwyn contributes to discussions on the future for human development in Latin America by advocating a new paradigm in development theory and practice, which he calls Labor Centered Development (LCD). Selwyn argues that collective actions by laboring classes can generate tangible developmental gains - materially and organizationally - for their members and their communities. While Elite Development Theories represent the political economy of capital, Selwyn argues that LCD represents varieties of the political economy of labour.  He provides empirical examples of LCD in Latin America, past and present -  ranging from workers in the Cordones Industriales in Chile in the early 1970s, to workers in export agriculture and the landless laborer's movement across Brazil, to various forms of unemployed worker's movements in Argentina. Selwyn concludes by considering prospects for further forms of LCD.