Recasting neo-liberalism in the americas: A critique of the preliminary needs assessment of the millennium development goals in the dominican republic

Abstract

Implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Dominican Republic represents an attempt to recast the neo-liberal project in the Americas. In this article, we illustrate this by analyzing the government's April 2005 report concerning the preliminary needs assessment of what the country would have to accomplish to meet the MDGs by 2015. We conclude the implementation process chosen suffers from a civil society deficit. It privileges the policy requirements and prescriptions of neo-liberal market forces that are represented by supranational and national actors and agencies. We suggest an alternative approach whereby achievement of the MDGs can be grounded in active citizenship participation.

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Notes on contributors

M. Martin Bosman

M. Martin Bosman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of South Florida in Tampa. His current research focuses on the interplay of contemporary spatial transformations and the forms and politics of city and regional economic change and global city production. With Kevin Archer and M. Mark Amen, he is editor of and contributor to Relocating Global Cities: From the Center to the Margins (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006).

M. Mark Amen

M. Mark Amen is Academic Programs Director for the Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions at the University of South Florida and Associate Professor in the Department of Government and International Affairs. His research interests are in global political economy, theories of the state, and globalizing cities. With Kevin Archer and M. Martin Bosman, he is editor of and contributor to Relocating Global Cities: From the Center to the Margins (Rowman & Littlefeld, 2006).