Social Neo-liberalism as a development policy: The case of the Mexican automobile industry

The Mexican State was modified by president Salinas from 1988 to 1994 under the guideline of Social Liberalism's ideology, mainly by an economic, a political and a social reform. Consequently, Mexico started moving into a freer economy, first by implementing a mixed economy export-oriented policy and later into an open market system through deregulation, privatization, foreign investment promotion, export diversification and a democratic reform. In short, the reform pursued a Neo-liberal model with special considerations for the social needs of the population.;This thesis provides an analysis of Social Neo-liberalism as a development policy, considering the Liberal ideological framework and studying its practice and impact within a specific sector of the Mexican industry, the automobile industry. This manufacturing sector provides a good example of Mexico's Social Neo-liberal economic, political and social reform impact, as this industry's activities were drastically modified because it was already integrated into the North American automobile industry.