Publication

This paper focuses on the adjustment process, defined as an increased reliance on market forces and a reduced role of the state in economic management. It analyzes the origin and the context of structural adjustment as well as its social consequences, in connection with globalization and democracy. Then it explores the implications of these processes for power relationships and social democracy. The author concludes that the political, social and economic configurations of new arrangements have to be explored in order to articulate and implement an agenda of reform addressing the major social problems of the era.