Contemporary Argentina

Book excerpt: In this perceptive book, David Keeling analyzes Argentinas changing position in the modern world economy against the backdrop of the countrys regional development processes. Combining systematic and area-based approaches, he discusses international and national trends that have shaped the social and economic geography of Argentina in profound and fundamental ways. Drawing on recent census data as well as on material from the Menem government, Keeling also explores whether Argentinas participation in the new world government has adversely affected environmental, labor, and social conditions. Since 1989, Argentina has experienced perhaps its most significant period of change since federation in 1880. Under the leadership of Carlos Menem and the Justicialista political party, contemporary Argentina is emerging from the chaos of long-term instability to reassert itself as a viable player in both regional and global systems.