The possible contribution of the brazilian social thought to the analisis about the cooperation/competition between national economies: theoretical challenges

Abstract

We analyze the history behind the concept “Latin America”, which goes back, from one point of view, to the French expansionism; from another, to the Hispanic and Portuguese colonization in the continent; and finally, to the antagonism toward the Anglo-Saxon matrix, until the point in time in which the Latin-American utopia. Our intention is to recognize the integration as effort and not as data that prescribe, among others, which integration, cooperation, and development is desired. Thus, with hope, I retrieve Elísio Macamo’s question about “what links us” in reference to Brazil and the countries in Africa, highlighting the importance of mutual knowledge and open debate that goes, as Gustavo Lins Ribeiro also says, to a post-imperialist era in the dialogue South-South.