The Strenght of Markets in Latin America’s political discourse, 1750-1850. Some preliminary observations

Abstract

The paper explores the shifting 'strength' attributed to markets in some key texts of Latin American political discourse. To both Bourbon reformers and mid-nineteenth century liberals, the market was a weak agent unable by itself to carry the transformations envisioned by reformers --about the colonies first, about the nation-states later. Different conceptions of the economic realm as well as the historical context in which reforms were implemented conspired to produce an understanding of markets quite different from the idea of a self-regulating mechanism with high transformative potential over society and politics.