INVITATION TO PRESENT PAPERS – REVISTA ECONOMÍA 129

International Geopolitical and Economic Shifts: Implications and Challenges for Latin America and the Global South

Since the beginning of this century, certain turning points have emerged in the development of global capitalist accumulation and the international state system.

The Great International Economic Recession of 2007–2009, marked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. The widespread destruction of income and wealth caused by this global crisis, which had its epicenter in the world’s leading economy, was comparable to the Great Depression of the 20th century (1929–1933) and at the same time revealed noteworthy peculiarities. Governments’ response, featuring bailouts for large corporations and fiscal stimulus packages, supported by the initial actions of the G-20 following the financial crisis; the deepening of the debtor-creditor relationship between the United States and China, and the relative stability of the global productive structure shaped by the internationalization of capital over previous decades, were signals that prevailed over systemic disruptions. Once the epicenter of the crisis had passed, capital accumulation slowed, income concentration deepened on an international scale, and inequalities continued to rise.

The cracks in the global market and the interstate system deepened, intensifying geopolitical disputes.  

Between 2013 and 2016, a series of events occurred that led to increased conflict in both areas. The Euromaidan and the regime change in Ukraine in 2013, followed by the Russian Federation’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the imposition of sanctions by Western powers against that country; the vote in favor of Brexit in June 2016; and Donald Trump’s victory later that year were significant indicators in this regard. The backdrop to these events was, in turn, characterized by rising protectionism, the stalemate in WTO negotiations, and a growing dispute over technological and economic leadership between the United States and China.

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic marked another significant rupture, particularly due to the economic paralysis and the deepening of income and wealth inequality on a global scale, but also because of the political effects it had both in the immediate term—with increased state controls within national borders—and in the longer term, leading to electoral defeats for ruling parties and the rise or consolidation of far-right movements. 

The 2022–2023 biennium warrants being viewed as a significant deepening of the crisis of the “rules-based international order,” especially in light of two major conflicts: Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the ongoing situation in the Middle East following Hamas’s attacks on Israel in October 2023 and the brutal offensive against the occupied Palestinian territories in response, which intensified the genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Finally, Trump’s return to power in January 2025 also opened up a new landscape in the global economy and politics. The imposition of tariffs on virtually all of the United States’ trading partners in 2022, the attacks on Venezuelan territory and the capture of its president, and the onset of a military conflict of unprecedented proportions instigated by the U.S. and Israel through their attacks on Iran during 2026, seem to be sufficient grounds to ask whether we are facing a historic rupture.

Meanwhile, the Global South in general—and Latin America in particular—has been plagued by growing tensions amid intensifying international competition and trade disputes between major powers. From the 2000s onward, China gained increasing prominence as a trading partner for countries in the region. With the 2008 crisis, the slowdown in global economic growth was compounded by a relative contraction in capital flows from emerging markets. While U.S. policy prioritized other regions, Chinese investments in infrastructure advanced, as did the search for new alliances and realignments, such as Brazil’s participation in the BRICS.

Within this broader context, the so-called cycle of progressive governments revealed its limitations and exhaustion, giving way to growing political instability manifested in a variety of ways. Among these, the shift to the right and the fracture or transformation of various political spaces into liberal options in Ecuador, or authoritarian ones as in Nicaragua or Venezuela, stand out; the emergence of far-right governments and experiments, such as Bolsonarism in Brazil, Bukele in El Salvador, or more recently Milei’s libertarianism in Argentina; and the emergence of institutional ruptures, such as the 2019 coup d’état in Bolivia or the chronic political instability in Peru. At the same time, we have also witnessed the emergence of a second wave of late-blooming progressive movements—in Chile, Mexico, and Colombia—with mixed results. 

Within this framework and diversity,  the region has been affected in recent years by growing U.S. interventionism, primarily since Donald Trump's second presidency and the deployment of a new iteration of the Monroe Doctrine—termed the "Donroe Doctrine." This interventionism have been varied, ranging from illegal and lethal attacks on vessels in international waters of the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean to direct military intervention in Venezuela, as well as financial intervention by the U.S. Treasury in Argentine politics, the direct presence of the FBI in Ecuador, and the ongoing blockade of and threats of intervention against Cuba.

In sum, we invite the submission of papers that examine reconfigurations of the global economy and international politics in light of these episodes or catalytic junctures. We remain open to proposals that consider alternative temporalities or that highlight elements of continuity that prevail over elements of rupture within the proposed periods.

We propose the following sub-themes as orientational suggestions:

• Implications and consequences of economic crises for capital accumulation on a global scale
• The growing influence of China and the Asia-Pacific axis in the global market, and the intensification of international competition and trade tensions
• The rise of geopolitical tensions interventionism and war: the Russian-Ukrainian war and the conflict in the Middle East, and the global south
• Latin America: national strategies at the crossroads of the global U.S.-China rivalry

We further invite contributions that broadly integrate these lines of inquiry in a broad sense, or that may contribute to reflection on international geopolitical and economic reconfigurations, repercussions, and challenges for Latin America and the Global South from the contributors' own research perspectives.

Dossier coordinators

Matías Eskenazi | Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos (Argentina)

Santiago Juncal | Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes (Argentina)

Reception of papers

November 1, 2026

Submission of papers

Through the OJS platform (it is mandatory to register as an author)

Publication

May 2027

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INVITATION TO PRESENT PAPERS – REVISTA ECONOMÍA 128

Counter-hegemonic Horizons in the Crisis of Capitalism: Limits and extent of the transition to alternative economic models at the local and global levels

In the crises inherent to the capitalist world-system—which reveal the socio-environmental unsustainability of the reproduction of the capitalist mode of production—the proposal of a post-capitalist society faces cross-cutting challenges in all spaces of social reproduction, both at the local and regional level. At the local level, the transition to alternative economic models is hindered by a dependency on the modes of exchange and production rooted in the capitalist model, which permeates economic relations not only in the immediate environment but also at broader scales, such as the regional and global.

In this context, key questions arise: To what extent can local transition projects toward alternative economic models truly be counter-hegemonic or self-suficient if they inevitably continue to operate—at least partially—within a capitalist system upheld by global geopolitical dynamics and transnational projects that continue to define economic power at all levels? What could be the first step in initiating a transition toward an alternative model? Will the efforts of local projects be enough, or will it be necessary to articulate these efforts alongside a rethinking of the global geopolitical architecture, such as that proposed by the BRICS through a multipolar model? ¿Is there any articulation, if at all, between local and regional projects? 

These issues prompt a review of the limitations and potential of local and regional efforts to build alternative economies in the face of the unsustainable logic of capital and the neocolonial practices that permeate the global community as a whole. The analysis will focus on the practices of cooperatives, community networks, autonomous movements, and other grassroots initiatives that, from a local perspective, aim to develop forms of production, distribution, and consumption distinct from those dictated by the global capitalist market. The variety of articles gathered in this dossier will help highlight the contrast between local initiatives and large-scale efforts at economic reconfiguration—such as those promoted by the BRICS—by assessing their actual potential for systemic transformation. This analysis aims not only to make visible the promises of these projects but also their tensions, contradictions, and limitations.

Key focus areas in this dossier include:

• Internal tensions within local initiatives: This section will explore the challenges faced by cooperatives and autonomous movements in terms of real autonomy, long-term economic sustainability, risks of co-optation by the market or the neoliberal state, and tensions between ideological principles and everyday practices.
• Critical comparison between local strategies and macroeconomic processes: A proposed analysis will contrast grassroots, territorially-based projects with international integration or cooperation initiatives, such as those of the BRICS, questioning the extent to which each level of action contributes to the construction of a systemic alternative.
• Structural conditions that enhance or limit alternative economies: This engagement will address the social, political, ecological, and technological factors that either enable or constrain the viability of these initiatives, both at the local scale and in their potential for regional or global articulation.
• Theoretical perspectives on economic autonomy: Contributions will be encouraged that foster a dialogue among different critical approaches—Marxist, decolonial, communitarian, ecofeminist, among others—that help to understand the conceptual and theoretical foundations of economic autonomy in the face of global capital.
• Concrete experiences case studies: Empirical research that presents experiences of emerging alternative economies in diverse geographic contexts, prioritizing those that contribute to a reflection on scale, replicability, and sustainability.

We also welcome submissions that broadly engage with these lines of inquiry or that can contribute to the reflection on economic transition from their own lines of research.

Dossier coordinator

Sofía Núñez Larios | Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (México)

Reception of papers

Until May 1, 2026

Submission of papers

Through the OJS platform (it is mandatory to register as an author)

Publication

November 2026

INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES ECONÓMICAS (IIE) 
FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS ECONÓMICAS │UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL DEL ECUADOR

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