Universalisation, Social Protection and Citizen Resistance in Latin American Political Economy
Abstract
This article aims to analyze the transformations of welfare models in Latin America between the commodity super-cycle, the post-boom phase and the pandemic, focusing on the tensions between universalisation, targeting and citizen resistance within the region’s political economy. It adopts a narrative review and documentary analysis approach, based on specialized literature and regional data from international organizations. The findings show that the partial expansion of social protection has not overcome the institutional segmentation associated with informality, gender inequalities, fragmented pension systems and the weak redistributive capacity of Latin American states. The pandemic intensified these limitations while strengthening social demands for rights, care policies and fiscal justice. The article concludes that Latin American welfare models are undergoing an unfinished process of recomposition, whose future will depend on fiscal, institutional and political reforms capable of sustaining a more universal form of social citizenship.
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