Varieties of Capitalism or Dependency? A Critique of the VoC Approach for Latin America

Abstract

This article critically discusses the recent enlargement of the ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ (VoC) approach to Latin America as an attempt to come to terms with the persistence of transnational socioeconomic inequalities. It finds that the VoC approach largely fails to deliver a convincing analysis and, by implication, to inform political strategies capable of overcoming them. Through an engagement with the VoC approach's foundational theoretical body and the new ‘hierarchical market economies’ ideal-type, three main analytical shortcomings are identified: (1) the approach's functionalist firm-centrism; (2) its methodological nationalism; and (3) its fundamental ahistoricism. By way of conclusion, the article proposes an alternative perspective on transnational inequalities which is centred on classical dependency approaches but also combined with insights from geographical political economy, among others.