The Sociopolitical Implications of an Economic Integration in the Case of MERCOSUR : From comparative perspectives

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1. In 1998 our study was principally concerned with the sociopolitical implications of MERCOSUR, by comparing it with EU with respect to democracy and social charter. We concluded that MERCOSUR was influenced by EU in its intention to accept a democratic principle and to sanction the EU-like social charter. But the social charter has not yet been ratified, principally because of neo-liberal tendencies predominant within the governments of the member countries.2. In the following year, we made a comparison between MERCOSUR as a type of customs union and NAFTA as a free trade agreement. It is safe to say that a former type can have more political implications, because it is a much more consolidated integration scheme. In spite of this, our study shows that the latter can have more democratic effect than the former, given special circumstances, such as the presence of a monitor network group in the United States to observe democracy in Mexico.In 1999, there occurred a serious trade friction between Brazil and Argentina as a result of Brazil's unilateral devaluation of its currency in January, which shook the bases of the integration. Therefore, I wrote an article that traced the evolution of the friction and its sociopolitical implication for Argentine labor.3. In 2000, I tried to analyze relation between globalization and integration in the case of MERCOSUR and analyzed the attitude of Argentine labor before them. Our conclusion was that Argentine labor tended to accept regional integration but reject globalization or they try to utilize regional integration as a shield against globalization, supposing that this is much more dangerous.