•  
  •  
 

Abstract / Resumen / Resumo

The trajectory of the Brazilian economy reveals that investments in infrastructure have periodically played a leading role in economic growth strategies and cycles. To examine the multiscale particularities of this framework and supported by the contributions of economic geography and political economy, this paper assumes that to understand the provision of infrastructure in Brazil it is necessary to comprehend the historical-structural changes in the country, as a peripheral economy, which has moved from national-developmentalist (1930s-1980s) towards neoliberalization, since 1990, subordinated to financial capitalism. The paper discusses the provision of infrastructure in a peripheral context and, employing theoretical-conceptual elements, links economic and social infrastructure, State and development. It then analyzes the relationships formed in the infrastructure sector, emphasizing the marketization processes throughout the accumulation of dynamics of Brazilian capitalism. It subsequently considers the resurgence of contradictions that have arisen from providing infrastructure and services for collective consumption within the circumstances of a pandemic. Last, but not least, the paper argues the alternative nature contained within an emancipatory infrastructure in contrast to the hegemonic pattern that has historically entailed the realization of such investments in Brazil.

Download

Share

COinS