Neoliberalism with Southern Characteristics

Locomotives of the South?

For centuries, the nations of the Global South have struggled to assert themselves politically. This assertion originally took the form of myriad struggles against colonialism, and as the European empires collapsed, new nation states came into being across Africa and Asia.

In 1955, the leaders of these newly emerging, optimistic nations came together in Bandung, Indonesia, to advance their struggles in the international arena. The “Spirit of Bandung” would subsequently inform institutions such as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the G77, its group within the UN. In economic matters, this perspective found expression in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), while the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) advanced an alternative cultural agenda. These bodies were the institutional expression of the Third World Project, the collective dream of billions of people for another world, one characterized by peace, cooperation, and shared prosperity.

More in the editorial by the editors.

Table of Contents

Neoliberalism with Southern Characteristics
The Rise of the BRICS
By Vijay Prashad

BRICS as a Powerhouse

The Emergence of the BRICS
The Defeat of the Third World Project
The Rise of Northern-led Neoliberalism
Anemic Northern Power
The IBSA Dialogue
Goldman Sachs

The BRICS Agenda
1. Financial Reform
2. Development Agenda
3. Multi-polar regionalism
Summit Politics

Limits of the BRICS Platform

Where will the BRICS go?

Selected References

Published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, New York Office, May 2013