The political economy of regional integration in the Global South: South Africa, India and Brazil

• Grant number: 17/05588-7
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: July 01, 2017 - June 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal researcher: Fabio Luis Barbosa dos Santos
• Grantee: Fabio Luis Barbosa dos Santos
• Home Institution: Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Osasco. Osasco , SP, Brazil
• Assoc. researchers: Ruy Gomes Braga Neto

Abstract

This project analyses, on a comparative perspective, the regional integration strategies enforced by South Africa, India and Brazil in the 21st Century. Research will start analysing the accumulation regimes that prevail in each country, referring them to the peculiarities of history, the political moment and the regional environment, with the purpose of unveiling the rationality that drives these regional integration strategies. My hypothesis is that despite singularities on each country´s response to globalization, a common drive prevails, as the regional integration trend does not question the material basis of a subordinate international insertion, based on commodities exportation an over-exploitation of the work force. I believe that this approach qualifies the debate around the BRICS, as the limits and potential of this inititiative are related to the historical movement that brought each of these countries together in the bloc. As the regional integration policies and engagement in the BRICS are two dimensions of how these countries have responded to the challenges of globalization, this comparison will contribute to debates on globalization itself in the global South. (AU)