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Protesters carrying signs in a demonstration against the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Denpasar, Indonesia, in 2013.
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neoliberal globalization, an approach to economic globalization, or the integration of the worldâs economies, based on neoliberalism, an ideology and policy model that emphasizes the value of free market competition. Neoliberalism is characterized by a belief in sustained economic growth as the best means to achieve human progress, by a confidence in free markets as the most efficient means of allocating resources, by an emphasis on minimal state intervention in economic and social affairs, and by a commitment to the freedom of trade and capital. The globalization that has taken place since the late 1980s (understood by some economists as a âthirdâ globalization, following the spread of new transportation and communication technologies beginning in the late 19th century and the adoption of an international monetary system in the mid-20th century) has been guided by the neoliberal model, insofar as the national and international economic policies by which it was enabled reflect neoliberal beliefs and values.
Critics of neoliberalism have argued that neoliberal policies effectively aim at raising the profits of private companies by minimizing the costs of investment, reducing or eliminating social welfare programs, and emphasizing economic individualism. With the rise of neoliberalism, they argue, all of society is increasingly dominated and penetrated by a capitalist logic that transforms every aspect of life into a commodity and leads to asymmetrical power relations, both internationally and domestically.
In the view of its opponents, neoliberal globalization has adversely affected national economies and economic relations between countries in a number of ways. Among the negative consequences associated with neoliberal globalization or with neoliberalism itself are the following:
The state tends to withdraw from all areas of social life.
The welfare state and the ideal of collective responsibility are limited or undermined.
Self-help, self-responsibility of individuals for their problems, and the capability of the market to regulate itself without human intervention are emphasized.
Growth, productivity, and competition are presented as the only goals of collective human actions.
Old ultraliberal ideas are presented as modern and progressive.
Money and financial markets are homogenized under the dominance of a few nations.
A new social Darwinism puts across the message that only the strong and worthy survive in society and on the market.
A permanent insecurity of wage and living conditions (âflexploitationâ), an individualization of work contracts, and state assistance and state subsidies for large corporations are all established and institutionalized.
It is emphasized that the economy is independent from society, that the market is the best means of organizing production and distribution efficiently and equitably, and that globalization requires the minimization of state spending, especially on social security.
The ideas in (9) are presented as inescapable, self-evident, and without alternatives.
The state creates the legal framework for flexible wages and flexible working times.
Collective bargaining systems are increasingly superseded by systems at a sectoral, regional, or company level.
The state tries to facilitate capital investment and technological progress through corporate subsidies and research and development (R&D) programs.
The state increasingly tries to activate entrepreneurial thinking by creating new forms of self-dependence and self-employment, reducing unemployment and social-welfare benefits, tightening eligibility criteria for such programs, and imposing sanctions and coercive activation policies designed to remove the poor or unemployed from social-welfare programs.
Pensions are increasingly cut, and the retirement age is lifted; private pension funds are encouraged.
Universities come to be treated as enterprises, and cooperation between universities and corporations is encouraged.
Public enterprises and services are increasingly privatized and commercialized.
The nation-state is transformed into a competitive state: there is competition for good conditions of economic investment between nation-states, and, hence, nation-states are frequently forced to facilitate privatization, deregulation, and the deterioration of wages, labour legislation, and welfare policies to attract the interest of transnational capital.
