Argentina is one of the most closely watched nations in the world, largely because if its failure to live up to grand expectations and its recent financial and social meltdown. On Argentina and the Southern Cone contextualizes the country's position within the currents of globalization by considering the ways that globalization is impacting contemporary Argentina - via regional trading blocs, migration, emerging transnational border regions, and the interests of multinational financial institutions and national elites. Argentina has long imagined itself as a European nation, qualitatively different from its Latin American neighbours. But recent events are forcing it to change its perception of itself. As the size of Argentina's transnational community continues to swell, and as the nation continues its financial and social implosion, Argentinians are being forced to re-imagine the nation as Latin American, replete with the histories and problems of that part of the world. Students of Argentinian and world history will find this an insightful and informative companion.

This Element presents the main characteristics of the current social structure in Latin America. It focuses on demographic trends, migration, families, incomes, education, health and housing, and examine the general policy trends for all of these issues. The main questions are: what is the social structure in Latin America like today? What changes have taken place in recent decades, particularly since the turn of the millennium? The authors argue that although in some dimensions there are continuities, including the persistence of problems from the past, they believe that the Latin American social structure, viewed as a whole, experienced significant transformations.