Nature Of Neoliberalism Research Articles

Theorizing Sexuality Politics of Neoliberalism: A Queer Sociological Approach

ABSTRACTThis article provides a critical overview of neoliberalism scholarship from a queer sociological perspective. Despite mainstream neoliberalism scholarship neglecting sexuality as a system of intersecting power relations, sociologists of sexualities have explored how neoliberalism reshapes the state, market, society, and subjectivity concerning sex, intimacy, and sexual politics. Highlighting the intersection of the sociology of sexualities with transnational feminist and queer studies, as well as critical race studies, I advocate for a refined understanding of sexuality as integral to neoliberalism's operations with empire, colonialism, and racial capitalism. I suggest areas for future research to further develop this understanding, including the emphasis on the variegated nature of neoliberalism, its ambivalence and contradictions, and its promiscuous convergence with other political, social, and cultural formations. This article ultimately calls for a queer political economic analysis in the continued engagement with neoliberalism and its interactions with sexuality politics to understand new global challenges and social transformations, including shifting geopolitics, digital and platform economies, and climate and reproductive crises.

Authoritarian liquid transgressions: the case of P&O Ferries

AbstractOn 17 March 2022, P&O Ferries summarily dismissed 786 seafarers without notice or consultation in a clear and openly admitted transgression of legality, but two months later its parent company's chief executive officer claimed that ‘nobody was hurt’. Drawing on the work of Zygmunt Bauman and Alain Supiot, this article offers a critical account of the scandal based on three main arguments. First, it develops the new concept of an ‘authoritarian liquid transgression’ (ALT), defined as a transgression of a democratic legal norm that seeks to leave no trace or excess (that which resists immediate liquefaction), thus aiming at complete erasure. Second, it argues that the P&O event is a paradigmatic example of an attempted ALT by dissecting three main steps in the business strategy (liquefaction, effacement, and simulation) but also traces competing privatized and politicized narratives of its excess. Third, the article suggests that the event will be viewed as a liminal event for the United Kingdom's authoritarian neoliberalism since it acted as a window that offered a brief glimpse of the brutal nature of authoritarian neoliberalism at work but also of an alternative solid construction of labour law and its remedial framework.

THE POLICY OF D. CAMERON’S GOVERNMENTS IN RELATION TO THE BRITISH STATE PENSION SYSTEM (2010–2016)

In the article the policy of the first (conservative-liberal) and second (conservative) governments of D. Cameron in relation to the British state pension system at the practical and ideological levels is analyzed and the goals and main content and results of this policy is determined. The author has come to the conclusion that, at a practical level, the activities of the executive authority were aimed at ensuring the stable operation of the state pension system in the face of an increasing rate of population aging, on the one hand, and obtaining electoral support for older British, on the other. In the ideological plane, the policy of D. Cameron’s governments in the considered direction of social policy was of a neoliberal nature, which was expressed in the desire of the authorities to increase the individual responsibility of pensioners for their financial well-being by changing the regulation of the state pension system.

Neoliberalism versus the market? Liz Truss, neoliberal resilience, and Lacan’s theory of the four discourses

This article uses concepts from Lacanian discourse analysis to examine the rise and fall of Liz Truss, and to draw conclusions about the nature and resilience of neoliberalism. I begin by outlining Lacan’s theory of the four discourses in relation to neoliberalism, distinguishing a ‘neoliberal master discourse’ comprising soaring rhetoric about freedom and prosperity, from a ‘neoliberal university discourse’ grounded in economic science. I argue Liz Truss represented an unusually pure form of the neoliberal master discourse, prioritising notions of freedom and prosperity over the more pragmatic focus on austerity and market discipline. However, when Truss’ discourse failed it led not to the repudiation of neoliberalism, but rather to the return of a neoliberal university discourse of austerity developed by Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt. I conclude that the relationship between the neoliberal master and university discourses is crucial to understanding the ongoing discursive resilience of neoliberalism.

The corporatization of global health: The impact of neoliberalism

Concomitant with the emergence of a neoliberal precept for global health is the decline in support for publicly funded programs working to alleviate health disparities in poor countries. An unequivocal faith in the privatization and marketization of public health services is evident in current day national policy reforms. Commodification of health services is perceived as a cure-all. Privatization of global health initiatives contrasts with the past institutional paradigm. Corporate and philanthropic power trumps intergovernmental governance. The epistemological precept is clear: Global health is best served with mandated private initiatives. Powerful foundations cause critical shifts in the balance of power among stakeholders and become preeminent players in global health policy agenda formation. The ethics of consequentialism have attained current day prominence. This contrasts with the merits and relevancy of de-ontological ethics in which rules and moral duty are central. In this paper, authors make a case for contesting the ethos of effective altruism or venture philanthropy, suggesting that this approach keeps nations and people from recognizing the oppressive nature of neoliberalism as a governing precept for global health.

“To put an end to this damned thing”: Rebutting denialism strategies performed by people in situation of homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemics (Brazil)

In this article we highlight some responses of collective resistance by members of the National Movement of People in Situational Homelessness (MNPR) in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), during the COVID-19 pandemics. In this context, this collective had to face a deep state of crisis, aggravated during the pandemic and as a result of its effects. During the months of July 2020 to August 2022, through a project funded by the National Research Council (CNPQ), we conducted participatory research within vulnerable social groups in order to help them strengthen their social and community organization in the face of the pandemics by analyzing and producing knowledge. The chosen ethnographic approach took place through virtual meetings, telephone contacts and a chat flow during the period in WhatsApp groups. As a result, we contrasted the potent local struggles of this movement with the denialist, negligent and pseudo-scientific attitudes of the Federal Government, which strengthened a genocidal process based on dehumanizing policies of neoliberal nature. We note that, even when the population mentioned dealt with the effects of a pandemic potentiated by structural racism and social exclusion, they organized creative coping strategies, and exemplified, through pedagogies of struggle, growing paths for the practice of citizen science.

The anatomy of parasitism in financialised capitalism: Entitlement and the destructive nature of permissive neoliberalism

This paper seeks to contribute to debates about the negative consequences of inequality, by examining the resilience of the failed and damaging doctrines of neoliberal supply-sidism in terms of the powerful hegemony of economic and political interests allied to the financial services sector, focussing the role of the UK in facilitating that hegemony. It deploys the concept “permissive neoliberalism”, signifying both the formal embedding of property rights over financial assets as the legal encoding of the short-term predatory hunt for “yield”, and the political toleration of criminal and criminogenic activity. The description of some of the most egregious examples of predatory financialisation illuminates the sanctification by the neoliberal state of ruthless value-extraction and the toleration of an increasingly chronic dependence on of the UK political economy on the City of London and its archipelago of secrecy jurisdictions.
 The shorter second part of the paper charts the growth of a mindset of entitlement on the part of economic and political elites and the role of psychopathic narcissism in crafting a legitimating narrative of their hegemony. The chronic disorder in the allocation of humanity’s material and financial resources invites a strong conclusion that financialised capitalism is not simply “killing the host” qua sustainable economic order, but is threatening the very survival of humanity’s biosphere by blocking the deployment of financial and human capital at sufficient scale to rescue the world’s climate from catastrophe.

The Neoliberal Concept of Bulgarian Healthcare: Diversity or Cognitive Dissonance

The paper examines the issue of the neoliberal nature of Bulgarian health care system, which introduced at once and in non-gradual way, formed varieties of combined neoliberal and anti-neoliberal theses. This is tracked in an analysis of data from ISSP surveys in Bulgaria (2021, 2022) regarding health care inequalities. Since the two surveys use certain identical questions, comparisons were made related to the performance and attitudes towards health care, vaccination, the role of the state authorities, etc. The results defend the thesis that neoliberal attitudes to health care are bend to nonliberal expectations in a way that exemplifies a type of “roll back” neoliberalism (Peck 2002).

Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services: An Act of Resistance against Australia's Neoliberal Ideologies.

The individualistic and colonial foundations of neoliberal socio-political ideologies are embedded throughout Australian health systems, services, and discourses. Not only does neoliberalism undermine Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collectivist values by emphasizing personal autonomy, but it has significant implications for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) operate within Community-oriented holistic understandings of well-being that contradict neoliberal values that Western health services operate within. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the role of ACCHS in resisting the pervasive nature of neoliberalism through the prioritization of self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Utilizing a critical evaluative commentary, we reflect on Aboriginal political leadership and advocacy during the 1970s and 1980s and the development of neoliberalism in Australia in the context of ACCHS. Community controlled primary health services across Australia are the only remaining government-funded and Aboriginal-controlled organizations. Not only do ACCHS models resist neoliberal ideologies of reduced public expenditure and dominant individualistic models of care, but they also incontrovertibly strengthen individual and Community health. ACCHS remain the gold standard model by ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights to the self-determination of health in accordance with the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

A sense of belonging in Australian higher education: the significance of self-efficacy and the student-educator relationship

With recent massification policies and reforms, Australia’s widening participation agenda has been instrumental in increasing participation of marginalised students in higher education. This paper considers how a sense of belonging can be instilled in marginalised students, improving retention and success and ultimately widening participation in higher education. It is recognised that one of the most important contributors to student engagement is the educator. Unfortunately, in academia today, educators are increasingly time-poor for several reasons including the neo-liberal nature of higher education, the COVID-19 pandemic and an emergency move to remote teaching. This article applies Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy to highlight how, when nurtured effectively, the student-educator relationship can contribute to improving students’ self-efficacy and their sense of belonging. Self-efficacy has been shown to affect aspirations, behavioural choices, maintenance of effort and affective reactions (Bandura, 1997), all of which can contribute to, or inhibit, students’ academic success. Self-efficacy can be increased via four sources: mastery experiences, verbal persuasion, vicarious experiences, and emotional and physiological states (Bandura, 1997). Central to this discussion is the value of vicarious experiences as a conduit between the educator and student in developing a student’s self-efficacy. This article provides practical advice for educators so they may focus their efforts and build strong student relationships in the most effective manner.

Gates of justice and exchange rates: speculative labor in the book of men

ABSTRACT Since the beginning of the twenty-first century in Israel – and with growing intensity since the outbreak of the 2011 social protests – a new neoliberal economical subject has appeared in Hebrew literature. In this new subjectivity, self-identity is formed and understood by its relations to work. In this article I will follow the new working subject as it is revealed in Nano Shabtai’s novel Book of Men and present an interpretive paradigm, grounded in the critique of neoliberalism. While much of the critique of Book of Men revolves around gender identity and power relations, I will offer a new interpretation. Shabtai’s protagonist reveals the mechanism underlying a subjectivity immersed in work and economics. As I will demonstrate, this mechanism negates the conventional dichotomy between exploiter and exploited – indeed, between the concept of coerciveness and choice – offering a reading that accounts for the slippage between these categories within the text. Under such a reading, complex networks of power dynamics weave Shabtai’s novel, and are deciphered by employing different languages of meaning. In addition, I will show that Shabtai’s literary form is influenced by the neoliberal nature of work and can be read as a stock portfolio.

Economic Disruption and Language Shift – Some Ethnographic Data from Ireland After the 2008 Crash

AbstractThis paper discusses some of the ways in which the “Great Recession” which followed the 2008 economic crash affected the vitality of Irish-speaking (“Gaeltacht”) areas. In addition to a brief discussion of the nature of neoliberalism – the cause of the 2008 crash – and some of the ways in which this ideology stands in contradiction to the requirements of language revitalisation, examples are given to illustrate the way in which the recession affected state language policy. Various microlevel consequences of these macro-level economic and policy developments are then discussed by reference to ethnographic data gathered in the Gaeltacht. Issues such as deindustrialisation, unemployment and the problematic nature of tourism in minoritised language communities are discussed, as is language use amongst young people and the way in which technology can contribute to language shift. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential for anti-systemic movements and policy proposals such as the “Green New Deal” to create, coincidentally, a macroeconomic regime that would be more favourable to linguistic minorities than that of neoliberalism.

Reducing deforestation and forest degradation in Democratic Republic of Congo: market-based conservation in a context of limited statehood

ABSTRACT Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is an international mechanism linked to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It has been described in the field of political ecology as the panacea of neoliberal nature conservation policies, in particular though the decreasing role of the state in the definition and implementation of forest policies in favour of market-based-mechanisms and non-governmental actors. The article explores the links between the privatisation of forest conservation and national sovereignty in the context of limited statehood through a case study in the Mai Ndombe province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It proposes an original approach combining African political anthropology with Franz Neumann's political economy analyses of the power of authoritarian states. It argues that this model of forest conservation uses carbon accounting and results-based payment, which privileges private actors for the design and implementation of REDD+ activities; it also paradoxically strengthens Congelese state legitimacy.

Is the Grass Greener in a Post-Pandemic World? (Re)Connecting Humanity with Nature for a Just Recovery

This article assesses the potential for reconnecting human and non- human nature in global post-COVID-19 recovery plans. The article utilises a critical perspective on the neoliberalisation of nature as a framing, as well as the case of sustainability and deforestation in forest risk commodity supply chains, to assess whether sustainable development initiatives and neoliberal environmental governance adequately protect the interests of vulnerable human and non- human nature. It finds that existing approaches to sustainable development in international governance prioritise liberalised global markets and the neoliberalisation of nature through commodification, privatisation and marketisation, thus furthering an unjust human-nature dichotomy by placing humans separate from nature and removing the intrinsic value of non-human materiality. It identifies a synergy between the global campaign to ‘build back better’ after COVID-19, environmental regulation and principles of Wild Law. The article concludes by recommending that a just post- pandemic economic recovery must realign the human experience as a part of the wider whole of the non-human natural world.

Right to Development Governance in the Advent of the African Continental Free Trade Area

AbstractIn this article, I explore the question of whether the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could provide the framework mechanism for actualizing the right to development in Africa. The imperative for socio-economic and cultural development suggests rethinking the manner in which Africa is governed and, importantly, also the necessity of putting into place functional mechanisms in view of enacting the future that is envisaged for the continent. Article 22(2) of the African Charter enjoins state parties to individually or collectively undertake measures to give effect to the right to development. After several futile endeavours aimed at finding an appropriate mechanism for development, Africa eventually takes a giant stride in establishing the AfCFTA. From a decolonial perspective, I examine the prospects of the AfCFTA, particularly with regard to competing interests that dominate the African development space. At face value, the AfCFTA appears to provide an enabling framework for the nurturing of productive capabilities, the flourishing of local initiatives, the eradication of poverty and expanded opportunities for development. Notwithstanding, I contend that the inherently neoliberal nature of the AfCFTA leaves a further question of whether the free trade area is likely to deliver socio-economic and cultural development benefits to the peoples of Africa.

The entangled state: How state-business relations shaped the German corporate tax regime

Contemporary tax research is split into two camps: comparative approaches emphasize continuity and cross-country differences, while the globalization literature stresses similar changes across countries. Counter the continuity thesis, this paper finds that neoliberal dynamics were at play in a case considered largely resilient to such dynamics: German governments implemented a series of corporate tax reforms which radically curbed business taxes and added a short-term and cost-cutting component to investments and corporate finance. While these changes point towards neoliberal change, they were distinct from the trends we see in other economies: crucially, the German reforms did not follow the common trend of reducing taxes for individuals and entailed a particular emphasis on enhancing multinational’s access to international capital – but did not liberate financial incomes from tax in general. Based on archival documents from the Bundestagsarchiv, this paper traces the process of German tax reforms and finds that neoliberal dynamics were at play but received a local (export-oriented) colour through processes specific to the German polity. Because consensual institutions granted power to a specific business coalition, radical change was long blocked. Reforms could only be implemented once the state forged a new coalition. Making sense of the mediation of neoliberal dynamics through state institutions can contribute to a better understanding of the variegated nature of neoliberalism.

Spatializing authoritarian neoliberalism by way of cultural politics: City, nation and the European Union in Gdańsk’s politics of cultural policy formation

This paper develops perspectives which seek to spatialize authoritarian neoliberalism through arguing for greater engagement with the politics of urban cultural policy formation in the neglected context of post-socialist East and Central Europe. Through analyzing the politics of urban cultural policy-making in Gdańsk, Poland, the paper spatializes authoritarian neoliberalism by exploring how relations between the urban and the national, and between the urban and the supranational, shape urban cultural policy, drawing upon literatures on political economy, policy mobilities, cultural policy research, and the concepts of authoritarian neoliberalism and the relational-territorial nexus. Gdańsk is a liberally run city, strongly aligned with the European Union (EU), opposed to the authoritarian neoliberal national level politics in Poland. The paper analyses urban-national tensions and relationships between Gdańsk and the EU to unpack the contested spatial nature of authoritarian neoliberalism.

The growth of private home care providers in Europe: The case of Ireland

AbstractPrivate for‐profit home care providers have grown unevenly in Europe and through varied processes. Yet, more research focusing directly on private providers is needed to identify and explain European patterns in their growth and in their modes of operation. This paper examines the case of Ireland, where private providers have grown significantly in recent years and transformed the national landscape of domiciliary care. First, it is shown that the amount of public funding received by private providers increased from €3 million in 2006 to €176 million in 2019, in contrast to amounts allocated to non‐profit and public providers that have increased only slightly. Second, those trends are explained through policy analysis and by drawing on in‐depth semi‐structured interviews (n = 12) with private home care providers and government officials who have been central to the privatization of care. The paper gives a direct voice to key figures in private home care, and through a critical reading of interview materials, argues that the neoliberal nature of the Irish state has driven the growth of private provision, in particular, through policies of competitive tendering and fiscalization. Providers' own lobbying activities have also played a role, albeit a secondary one. Ireland has traditionally followed a laissez‐faire, family‐based system comparable to Southern European countries. Its experience is thus directly relevant to that region, but further research should also compare and contrast the development of private providers operating in other European long‐term care regimes.

Reducing and managing the risk of disaster in Philippine jails and prisons

This brief is designed to inform disaster risk reduction and management in Philippine jails and prisons. It draws upon research conducted in nine jails and prisons between July 2015 and January 2016. This research included 44 interviews with stakeholders, including inmates and prisoners, and nine focus groups with inmates and prisoners in different regions of the country. The research indicates that natural hazards are one amongst the many threats that inmates and prisoners face in their everyday life. Natural hazards are significant because inmates and prisoners are particularly vulnerable. Inmates' and prisoners' vulnerability stems from a thread of proximate and root causes that range from insalubrious and overcrowded facilities and limited resourcing from the government, to the neoliberal nature of the Philippine state. However, inmates and prisoners are not helpless “victims” in dealing with natural hazards. They display a wide range of skills, resources and knowledge (i.e. capacities) that are grounded in everyday practices and values reflective of the broader Philippine society. This policy brief finally makes some recommendations for strengthening hazard prevention, fostering vulnerability mitigation, enhancing preparedness, and reinforcing disaster management in Philippine jails and prisons. These recommendations emphasise the contributions of a number of stakeholders, including the active role of inmates and prisoners who are the first line of defence in facing disasters in jails and prisons.

Analysis of the assessment in Physical Education curricula in Primary Education

ABSTRACT One way to understand the Physical Education (PE) curriculum is through assessment. After the appearance in Spain of the learning standard (LS) as a reference for more specific assessment, the main objective of this work was to analyse the assessment aspects for PE in Primary Education in the curricula of Spain’s 17 Autonomous Communities. Documentary analysis of the official regulations was used as a data collection technique. Qualitative and quantitative variables were analysed for the 3,357 assessment references. Qualitative variables included: LS typology and sequencing, and the existence of assessment orientations. Quantitative variables included: the curricular size, the presence of the cognitive, motor, and socio-affective dimensions in the different standards, percentages of comprehensiveness (assessment references which include the three dimensions) and curricular effectiveness (capacity of each curriculum to optimise the standards to include the greatest number of dimensions). The LS was the assessment element generally used by the majority of curricula. The cognitive dimension (39.42%) predominated in the assessment references, at the expense of the motor (30.94%) and socio-affective dimensions (29.65%). Only 11.70% of the 3,357 assessment references used incorporated the three dimensions (cognitive, motor and socio-affective). An inversely proportional relation seemed to exist between curricular size (number of standards) and its comprehensiveness (r = −0.505) and effectiveness (AEC) (r = −0.646). Likewise, it is noted that more LS including the motor dimension is associated with a greater comprehensiveness (2D: r = 0.573) of the curricula (r = 0.721). Lastly, the association between the ‘motor’ and ‘cognitive’ dimension variables was reversed. The curricula analysis showed a very high level of standardisation of PE assessment, which was oriented towards the measuring of theoretical know-how, foregoing comprehensiveness. This trend underlines the curricula’s adopted neoliberal nature and their distancing from assessment models based on student participation and development. A more flexible, democratically constructed curriculum as well as assessment benchmarks are necessary in PE, where motor development and assessment become a means for holistic education.