The social actors and structural adjustment

This paper presents several hypotheses on the social and political context of the application of the so-called structural adjustment policies and their effects on the social organization and patterns of conduct of the collective actors involved. The central idea put forward here is that, quite apart from the crisis (economic, social and sometimes political) which precedes and generally accompanies the application of these policies, they ultimately bring about profound and lasting changes in the social structure of the countries implementing them.