The book Reforms for social cohesion in Latin America. The outlook in the face of the crisis contains all the addresses presented at the seminar “Social cohesion and reforms in Latin America", held in Barcelona on 26-27 October 2007. The seminar, which brought together economists and other leading academics, represented an opportunity to reflect and debate both the situation and the most suitable policies for achieving sustained, fair economic development in the region. The book tackles different elements of social and economic policies closely linked with social cohesion, such as tax reform, educational policy and the labour market, all of which are crucial to progress in social cohesion, which is the central pillar of any long-term development strategy. Furthermore, the book provides an in-depth examination of social prevention systems, such as pension systems and health protection. In short, this is a valuable monographic study for all those seeking to understand the current state of the different determining aspects of social cohesion in the region, as well as to analyse some of the existing proposals for making progress in the promotion of a more cohesive society.

This book, which has been jointly published by ECLAC, CIDOB and SEGIB, is the result of these institutions’ desire to make available to a wider public a work offering substantial food for thought on the need to make economic growth more compatible with social cohesion. It also represents the third volume in a series that contains the contents of the Ibero-American Development Agenda (ADI) seminars, which have been held ever since the Ibero-American Summit in Salamanca in 2005.

In the words of the volume's publishers: “Latin America needs more social cohesion in order to find its way out of the crisis, at the same time as it needs more opportunities, more inclusion and more development to achieve higher levels of cohesion. Once again, the keys to Latin America’s future development lie in the dynamic between growth and cohesion".

ISBN: 978-84-92511-13-6

399 pp.