Neoliberalism
Definition:
Neoliberalism is the transfer of power (social, economic, etc.) from the public sector to the private sector. It sees competition as the defining characteristic of human behavior, maintaining a market economy.
Context:
Some people argue that neoliberalism is an entirely new concept that arose around the time of the most recent economic depression as a response to economy needing major transformations, and many of these people argued that a shift of economic power from the public sector to the private sector needed to take place. Others may argue that inequality has always existed between humans and that neoliberalism wholly embodies that inequality. Regardless of your interpretation of the term, it was not actually coined until 1938 by two men named Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek in light of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal as “collectivist.” A movement from the public sector and group identity would help move away from what they considered to be an embodiment of collectivism and more towards an individualistic socio-economic order.
In regards to the environment, we have seen environmental conservation and neoliberal economic goals oppose each other for ages. Environmental conservation has always been seen as the conservation movement protecting and focusing on the bigger picture and the best interest of the public while the neoliberal agenda supports the economic goals and growth of private corporations.
More recently, people view neoliberalism in context of the environment, as the efforts private companies make at deregulation on a governmental scale to stimulate the economy or benefit personal objectives. Looking at neoliberalism under a microscope of relevancy, we could say that the current Trump Administration is moving towards implementing neoliberal environmental policies.
Critique:
Neoliberalism has played a major role how our global economy has functioned in the past few years. It can be attributed to the financial crisis of 2008, the privatization of offshore wealth, and even the rise of economic moguls (like Donald Trump) to power (Monbiot). Neoliberalism causes wealth to be funneled into the private sector, which does not always have the public’s interest in mind. When greed overcomes the well being of those affected by things like the financial sector or offshore markets, the public becomes threatened. In this sense a weakness of neoliberalism is that it fuels inequality.
Neoliberalism also redefines competition as a human characteristic. It establishes a dog-eat-dog world, where theoretically everyone gets “what they deserve” (Monbiot). In reality, neoliberalism allows the rich to become richer, and the poor to stay poor (Kitching). These deep divides lead the rich to believe that they earned their wealth, and the poor to believe that they deserve their circumstances, when in reality there is little they could’ve done to change their paths (Monbiot).
In reality neoliberalism is beneficial only to those at the top, which puts a threat on our environment. As neoliberalism becomes more prevalent and power is put in the hands of very few, our environment will become more threatened by those who wish to exploit it for profit or personal gain. It will be vital for environmentalists to tackle the issue of neoliberalism in order to gain traction in protecting resources.
Conclusion:
The concept of neoliberalism has been “officially” around for around 75 years. The idea neoliberalism has gained and lost popularity and still exists in our politics and opinions of people in the world today. It is the idea that the economy would flourish is the power was given to the private sector instead of maintaining the public sector in power. Without neoliberalism, competition among companies is limited. Competition becomes difficult in a democratic society when certain advantages and disadvantages are not always your fault (Monbiot). It would not always work itself out like it should.
Neoliberalism is even more unkind to the environment. The environment would be destroyed if it was based on a competition will balance mindset. There would be less public lands and more private lands with less regulations. Thus leaving the rich with the ability to make money off lands and other ways to make more places privately owned. This “ism” is a huge factor in a lot of things wrong with our system today. Neoliberalism is not always stated as up front as that word as the word has somewhat died out. It has been replaced with phrases in politician’s speech such as “the greater good”. It does not really mean the greater good for the common people but the greater good for a few wealthy persons. The recommendation would be do not implement this concept as it makes the rich richer and the poor poorer.
Bibliography
- “Neoliberalism.” International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, edited by William A. Darity, Jr., 2nd ed., vol. 5, Macmillan Reference USA, 2008, pp. 473-475. Gale Virtual Reference Library, Accessed 24 Mar. 2017.
- Harvey, David. “A Brief History of Neoliberalism” Oxford University Press. 2005. New York, New York.
- Kitching, Gavin. “Neoliberalism.” Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics, edited by Carl Mitcham, vol. 3, Macmillan Reference USA, 2005, pp. 1303-1307. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Accessed 24 Mar. 2017.
- Monboit, George. “Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems.” The Guardian. April 15, 2016.
- Plastow, Rob. “Neoliberalism in environmental governance: a paradoxical double movement?.” University of Exeter. May 2010.