Context Of Neoliberal Policies Research Articles

The changing relationship between the state and the voluntary philanthropic sector: special reference to Singapore

ABSTRACTThere has been a significant proliferation of voluntary philanthropic organizations to deliver basic services in the current context of anti-welfare neoliberal policies pursued by the state. While there are numerous studies and publications on these voluntary organizations, the nature of their relationship with the state remains relatively under-researched. This article attempts to explore this issue in the case Singapore where, in the absence of an active welfare state, the voluntary philanthropic organizations—especially the Voluntary Welfare Organizations (VWOs)—have played a crucial role in serving citizens’ welfare needs. In evaluating the nature and determinants of this state-VWO relationship, the article examines some relevant theoretical models and applies them to the Singapore case.

Beware Zombies and Unicorns: Toward Critical Patient and Public Involvement in Health Research in a Neoliberal Context

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in UK National Health Service (NHS) research has become an imperative in policy and practice. However, lack of clarity on what PPI is (or might be) has given rise to a poorly monitored, complex field of activity, variously framed by the expectations of policy makers, funders, host organisations, researchers, health professionals, individual recruits, volunteers, activists and third sector organisations. The normative shift towards PPI has taken place within a neoliberal policy context, the implications of which needs to be explicitly considered, particularly after the Brexit referendum which has left policy makers and researchers wondering how to better appeal to a distrustful public subjected to ‘post-truth’ and ‘dog whistle’ politics. This commentary examines the prospects for a more critical approach to PPI which addresses context, is evidence-informed and mindful of persistent inequalities in health outcomes, at a time when models of PPI in NHS health research tend to be conceptually vague, derived from limited clinical and managerial settings, and centred on a construction of the abstract, rational, compliant and self-managing patient or lay-person.

Neoliberal governance and ‘responsibilization’ of agents: reassessing the mechanisms of responsibility-shift in neoliberal discursive environments

ABSTRACTThe ‘governmentality’ approach has been influential in analyzing how neoliberal governance transfers responsibility to individual agents through an ‘appeal of freedom’ mechanism. This productive conceptualization of power has generated a solid body of research on the workings of (neo)liberal governance and contemporary Western capitalism. However, such research has largely ignored a complementary mechanism characteristic of situations where ‘appeal of freedom’ lets actors down, that is, dynamics of ‘threat to personal control’. Studies focusing and elaborating on this aspect, and ‘control constructs’ more generally, have remained mostly within the disciplinary boundaries of (social) psychology. In this paper we aim to bring the social psychological research on control constructs into a dialogue with governmentality theorizing and to show how neoliberal ‘responsibilization’ can work through threats to personal control, insecurity and governance by fear. We propose one way of utilizing, and advancing, these approaches in tandem with empirical research, by focusing on the analysis of control attributions of the subjects of (neoliberal) governance. With a brief empirical illustration from the context of Australian neoliberal agricultural policies we then show how neoliberal ‘responsibilization’ can be viewed as relying on farmers’ striving to maintain personal control under uncertainty, in addition to the workings of the ‘appeal of freedom’ mechanism.

Neo-liberalism and constructions of democracy: The impact on teachers' work

In New Zealand teachers have been working in a neo-liberal policy context now for 10 years The assumptions and imperatives of this political programme have had time to affect the working conditions of teachers in a multitude of ways. This paper is an attempt to unravel some of the implications and effects of neo-liberal political theory on teachers' work.

PARADOJAS DE LA ENERGÍA EÓLICA ¿ALTERNATIVA AL CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO EN LA AGENDA GLOBAL? EL CORREDOR EÓLICO EN EL ISTMO DE TEHUANTEPEC, OAXACA, MÉXICO

ResumenHistóricamente, la región del Istmo de Tehuantepec ubicada en el estado de Oaxaca, México ha sido blanco de grandes proyectos de desarrollo. A finales del siglo XIX (durante el gobierno de Porfirio Díaz) la construcción del ferrocarril originó cambios significativos, como la fundación de pueblos, la creación de nuevas rutas y vínculos comerciales interregionales y mundiales. En el siglo XX se idearon planes de infraestructura vial, carretera y portuaria, se incentivó la industria petrolera, se introdujeron cultivos comerciales para exportación y se propusieron megaproyectos como el Alfa Omega y el Plan Puebla Panamá que no se materializaron. A partir del siglo XXI una nueva configuración socioterritorial se ha ido consolidando por el arribo de empresas transnacionales productoras de energía eólica. El corredor eólico en el Istmo oaxaqueño fue el primero que se construyó en América Latina, de ahí la pertinencia de abordarlo como tema de análisis, no sólo por la importancia internacional que reviste, sino por las transformaciones sociales, políticas, territoriales y ambientales que está produciendo. El proyecto está enmarcado en el contexto de las políticas neoliberales que se han implementado a lo largo y ancho del continente desde la década de los ochenta; aunque al mismo tiempo responde al calentamiento global y a la crisis energética mundial, temas centrales en la agenda global. El artículo aborda las problemáticas surgidas a partir del arribo de las empresas que explotan los recursos naturales para producir energía; así como las estrategias políticas utilizadas por los pueblos indígenas zapotecos y huaves centrados en contrarrestar los impactos sociales, económicos, ambientales y agrarios que generan los proyectos eólicos.Palabras claves: Crisis del medio ambiente, Empresas transnacionales, Indígenas, Neoliberalismo, Reconfiguración territorial.

Being Homeless and Becoming Housed: The Interplay of Fateful Moments and Social Support in Neo-liberal Context

This paper presents a qualitative analysis of stories of adults who transitioned from being absolutely homeless to becoming housed. Participants’ stories are particularly salient for what they reveal about this transition in the midst of other challenges including substance use, criminalization, and violence, and within a neo-liberal social policy context. Through strategies of narrative analysis, two interconnected processes of becoming housed are discovered: (a) experiencing fateful moments; and (b) perceiving and creating social supports. The main conclusion is that fateful moments in individuals’ lives intersect with the push and pull of instrumental and expressive supports from family, community, and the state to culminate in an exit from absolute homelessness. The implications of these findings for understanding and responding to homelessness are also discussed.

Negotiating Tensions: Grassroots Organizing, School Reform, and the Paradox of Neoliberal Democracy

Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork at a community-based organization (CBO) engaged in parent organizing for urban school reform, this paper examines how organizers engaged with the imperatives of neoliberal reform and the broader neoliberal policy context. It highlights organizers’ agency but also shows how hegemonic discourse constrained their agency. It argues CBO involvement can contribute to educational neoliberalization and to neoliberal notions of democracy that, paradoxically, employ processes of symbolic inclusion and material exclusion (Miraftab 2004). [parent organizing, grassroots organizations, neoliberalism, democracy, school reform]

Reconciling Tensions: Needing Formal and Family/Friend Care but Feeling like a Burden.

Within a neoliberal policy context that shifts responsibility for health and well-being from the state to families and individuals, Canadian home care strategies tend to present family members as "partners in care". Drawing on an interpretive grounded theory study that involved 34 qualitative interviews, this article examines older people's experiences at the intersections of formal home care and family/friend care arrangements, against the backdrop of policies that emphasize partnerships with family. The core concept derived from the interviews was reconciling tensions between care needs and concerns about burdening others, in the context of available home and community care. Four processes are identified, which illustrate how access to financial and social resources may lead to opportunities and constraints in experiences of care. Findings underscore the emotional and practical challenges that older people may encounter vis-à-vis policy discourses that encourage family responsibility for care. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

“It’s like this Myth of the Supernegro”: resisting narratives of damage and struggle in the neoliberal educational policy context

As pathologizing, racialized, and patriarchal rhetoric undergirds neoliberal education reform, deficit narratives characterize the education of Black youth. Such narratives present deep challenges for educational policy and community-based educational spaces. This article explores the ways in which community-based educators resist narratives of damage and struggle in their own personal and professional narratives in order to prevent the cycle of deficit-oriented discourse that follow Black youth through myriad educational spaces. By situating the narratives of community-based educators within a broader policy context shaped by race, class, and gender, this article illustrates the challenges that arise for community-based educators that seek to frame Black youth beyond deficit narratives and who avoid framing themselves as heroes and saviors of Black youth.

Teacher professionalism beyond numbers: A communicative orientation

In the European neo-liberal policy context, there has been an increase in pressure on teachers to exercise a type of professional responsibility that contributes to the development of a competitive knowledge-based economy. From a communication theory perspective, this paper examines if it is at all possible to talk of professional responsibility in a policy context characterised by individualisation, standardisation and accountability. Methodologically, this text joins a critical tradition of educational policy research, which emphasises the need to combine critical examination with empirical analysis. Critical discourse analysis has been used for the systematic analysis portion of this text. Central official policy texts from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the European Union and the 2011 school reforms in Sweden have been analysed. The results show that while demands for increased professional responsibility among teachers have been made by policy actors at different levels, the neo-liberal policy context offers limited opportunities for teachers to actually exercise this type of professional responsibility, if seen as a communicative practice based on the idea of relative autonomy. The paper concludes with a prospective discussion in which teacher professionalism is linked to the creation and maintenance of ‘spaces of communication’, as well as a look at the challenges faced by policy makers at all levels if they are to facilitate such spaces.

Men and health promotion in the United Kingdom: 20 years further forward?

Despite overall improvements in life expectancy, rates of premature male mortality, particularly for men in areas of socioeconomic deprivation, remain an important issue of concern in the United Kingdom. Interventions to engage men and promote their health and wellbeing have developed, albeit sporadically, over recent decades in response to this health inequity. This paper provides a 10-year update on the state of men’s health promotion in the United Kingdom. It begins by highlighting changes in male life expectancy and possible explanations for these shifts, including a relative failure to address mental health promotion and male suicide, before providing detail about how practice approaches to men’s health promotion have evolved over the period 2005–2016. Such changes are not removed from the wider socioeconomic context. This paper therefore, then, considers movements in the policy context and possible influences of this before exploring the challenges that remain for men’s health promotion. We suggest that despite certain improvements in the practice of men’s health promotion and in men’s health outcomes, issues remain in terms of premature mortality, particularly for certain groups of men. We further suggest that many of the difficulties in improving and promoting the health of men further lie with a market-driven neoliberal policy context that engenders inequality through the inequitable distribution of and access to material resources and through individualistic approaches to health promotion that serve men from economically and socially disadvantaged locations least well.

Evolving roles for local government in tourism development: a political economy perspective

ABSTRACTThis paper interrogates the changing role of local government in tourism development. It does so through the examination of the Hurunui District, a rural district in New Zealand which has experienced significant transformation in the tourism sector and a concomitant increase in public sector input over the past 25 years. By situating this interrogation within an evolving neoliberal public policy context, this paper explores the tensions at play between tourism stakeholders and decision-makers, and it critiques the way in which local government involvement in the sector is manifested as regulation, promotion, and ownership of key tourism resources in the District. The significance of this paper is that it extends our understanding of the role of the state in tourism and of the influence of public policy on tourism development, potentially including sustainable tourism development. Specifically, it draws our attention to the rationality, roles and activities of public sector engagement in the tourism sector, particularly at local government level. We conclude that the nature and extent of debate evident in the case study, and verified in the literature, indicates that the boundary of government activity and intervention in the tourism market is, and will continue to be, socially contested and mediated.

“Learning to listen”: boys’ gender narratives – implications for theory and practice

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically investigate year 6 and year 9 boys’ constructions of masculinity in the light of theories of inclusive masculinity and to consider the implications of the findings for critical masculinities scholarship in educational research. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data was collected through fieldwork in school settings consisting of observations and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis draws upon pro-feminist and post-structuralist theories of the gendered subject. Findings – The data shows some evidence of inclusive forms of masculinity expressed by the boys’ rejection of a “boy code” (Pollack, 1999) and their narratives of caring and emotional experience. However, discourses of dominant masculinity persist and continue to shape the boys’ subjectivities. The most striking finding is the capacity of the educational gender work programme reported on in this study to provide boys with the resources to problematise the social construction of masculinity. Research limitations/implications – The data suggests analysis in binary terms of inclusive or dominant masculinity fails to recognise the fuzzy educational middle ground occupied by the “overlooked ordinary boys” (Brown, 1987; Roberts, 2012) of this study. Practical implications – Educational gender work programmes which provide boys with the resources to question dominant masculine practices enable boys to exceed the “symbolic order” and trouble dominant gender discourse. Originality/value – In order to develop nuanced theory and practice researchers need to listen to boys’ accounts of their experiences. Analysis of boys gender work in terms of binary adult constructs of masculinity run the risk of perpetuating the essentialism they purport to avoid rather than producing studies which provide an empirically robust foundation for developing an effective practical educational agenda. In a neo-liberal policy context the role of gender equity programmes with the capacity to produce more reflexive masculine subjects requires reassertion within the curriculum.

The Olympic family? Young people, family practices and the London 2012 Olympic Games

ABSTRACTThe London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 sought to ‘Inspire a Generation’ of young people to engage in sport. This article explores the ways in which a group of young people in the North West of England and the East of Scotland experienced the Games in the context of their everyday family and relational lives. Using a family practices theoretical framework and applying the concept of ‘family ecocultural pathways’, the article examines how watching the Olympics on television served as an opportunity for families to express their sport and physical activity values, needs and goals in their everyday practices of ‘doing’ and ‘being’ a family. Empirical data from the study is presented alongside critical explorations of the neoliberal policy and political context of the London 2012 Games. Discussion focusses on how sport legacy policy (and sport and physical activity policy in general) could be reconceptualised and reconstructed to include a family practices perspective.

Innovation and autonomy at a time of rapid reform: an English case study

This paper sets out to report upon the findings of a case study of an ‘innovative’ school in England. Specifically, the research focusses upon the way in which the school has engaged with the neoliberal policy context in which increased autonomy and diversification of provision is promoted in England as a driver of standards. Using Bourdieu's conceptualisation of symbolic capital, the findings suggest that within this autonomous system, ‘innovative’ localised policy-making can arguably misrecognise the role such ‘innovation’ plays in helping to maintain structures, which may contribute to ensuring the field, and its competitive nature, is protected rather than challenged.

A critical investigation of the relationship between masculinity, social justice, religious education and the neo-liberal discourse

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically investigate a group of year 11 boys’ relationship to RE in response to debates about boys’ underachievement in RE. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data were collected through observations and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis draws upon pro-feminist and poststructuralist theories of the gendered subject. Findings – The data presented in this paper reveals how RE functioned as a political space for the exploration of social justice issues that formed part of the boys’ daily experiences, serving to increase awareness and understanding of diversity. Research limitations/implications – At a time of curriculum change where RE has been marginalised by exclusion from the DfE's English Baccalaureate this paper also seeks to contribute to debates about education for social justice through critical, pluralistic RE within a neo-liberal policy context. Practical implications – RE is shown to be a potent educational resource for challenging pupils’ negative social practices and producing more reflexive masculine subjects. Social implications – The contribution of RE to ensuring greater understanding and dialogue requires reassertion and protection within the curriculum. Originality/value – The data presented shows that where RE is taken up by masculine subjects it offers an alternative discourse with potential to create community cohesion and interfaith dialogue.

When the Political Gets Personal: Social Foundations and University Politics in Hard Times

I've been thinking a lot lately about the ways that the current context of neoliberal educational policies affects day to day life and relationships in the academy. Of course, I'm interested for lo...

Socialization and inequality: A biographical approach to the working class in Portugal

This article discusses the relationship between socialization and inequality, exploring the case of the working class in Portugal. Bringing together different sociologic traditions, the framework draws upon Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and practices, balanced with recent research on life histories, globalization and individualization. The life stories of 52 workers produced in the context of an adult education programme are analysed, focusing on two major topics: life pathways and class trajectories, and subjectivity, identity and values (stressing the weak class consciousness). The article discusses the potentialities/challenges of using the biographical method to study socialization and inequalities, particularly when developed in educational contexts. According to the analysis, life pathways are often branded by temporary rural, industrial and services work experiences, crossed by ‘turning points’ and dramatic moments, though with some generational and gender differences. Classes are seldom referred to, but narratives are framed by key socialization institutions (work, family, local community, church, army) and a sense of deficit, pride and shame, linked to the inequalities structure. Although a pervasive economic, cultural and political change from the 1960s on is evident, our research found key features of a working-class habitus, rooted in specific life paths and socialization institutions. These are likely to be stretched in the current context of economic crisis and neoliberal policies in southern Europe.

Communication, Power and Resistance in the Arab Spring

This article articulates the processes of resistance that were constituted in participation of the youth in online and offline spaces in the Arab Spring. Through an online ethnography of the various sites of resistance, the article foregrounds the complementary roles played by communication spaces, the broader economic context of neoliberal policies and the ways in which resistance offered entry points for alternative imaginations. The theoretical discussion in the article puts forth the argument that the struggle for voice rooted in the politics of the global South is also a struggle for economic opportunity, economic decision-making and economic participation, working with culturally-rooted expressions that find global presence through interlinkages of resistance in regional-global networks.

New Zealand parents' understandings of the intergenerational decline in children's independent outdoor play and active travel

Children's independent mobility and physical activity levels are declining in Western countries. In the past 20 years New Zealand children's active travel (walking and cycling) has dropped on average from 130 to 72 minutes per week, and those travelling by car to school have increased from 31% to 58%. This paper describes parents' understandings of why 9–11-year-old primary school children in suburban Auckland are less likely to walk to school and play unsupervised outdoors than they were as children. Data gathered in focus groups show understandings range from proximate neighbourhood explanations to downstream impacts of a neoliberal policy context.