Building strategies for development

Abstract

This article revisits the original discussion on development that began in the 1930s and came together after World War II. Since its inception, development has always been synonymous with industrialization — the transition from agricultural to industrial societies. The mainstream back then was based on the stages of W.W. Rostow. With the rise of neoliberalism in the 1980s, developmentalism was abandoned, even when there was no historical evidence of any success of neoliberal policies in the history of capitalist development in the majority of countries. Based on Amsden, Mazzucato, and Chang, this article analyzes the historical strategies of countries that have succeeded in their development. We aim to point out Brazil's new challenges in building development strategies after the wave of institutional destruction by neoliberal governments in Brazil and the deindustrialization promoted by that strategy.