Unchained Processes?

In the last half century, we witnessed a diversity of seemingly unchained social and economic processes, such as the crises underwent some years ago by emerging economies in Asia and Latina America; now, the large contemporary global crisis, the epicenter of which has been in affluent countries; and the recent (and ongoing) eruptions in the Arab world, to mention but a few of the most shocking transformations. Each of these processes presents countless local and temporal factors differentiating one from another, many of them operational error-related. Yet, it is worth wondering whether there are any deeper common denominators at the base or root of these processes. Which might be those mega-factors, regardless of the specific shape they take in each reality? If any of such factors existed, it would be worthwhile to identify them.

From our viewpoint, one of those mega-factors that has been, and still is, present in all such processes is the enormous economic concentration, which today is growing huger due to the contemporary acceleration. Its other side is the tremendous social and economic inequality occurring in almost the entire world, even in wealthy countries, although in our Southern Hemisphere it is expressed as poverty and outrageous indigence. Opinion Sur has joined those who explore into those processes, with a view to understanding their nature, functional rationale, and impact upon global and local sustainability, launching as well proposals for some measures and actions that may allow us to change the course we are following. In this issue, like in all previous ones, we attempt at adding some more comprehension and proposition to this perspective. We hope you find it interesting.

Cordial greetings.

The Editors