Most studies on globalization have concentrated on the effects of the circulation of capitals and goods on the economies of the more developed and underdeveloped countries. There have been few studies dealing with the effects of globalization on social policies and on the social security systems of different countries. In the present paper, I discuss the transformation of the social protection system in the three countries that constitute the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): The United States, Canada and Mexico. Although the three countries are under similar pressure from globalisation they have not converged to a liberal, residual system as most analysts predicted. To understand why one has to remember that globalization is not an impersonal movement that imposes itself from the outside, but it is a socio-economic arrangement that is endorsed by external and internal economic (multinationals, national enterprises) and political actors (international economic institutions, national elites).
