Throughout the course of the semester, neoliberalism is a concept that is continuously reflected within the literature. Neoliberalism is a set of political-economic practices that proposes human well-being can best be advanced by deregulation of the economy, privatization, private property rights, lower government spending on social services, and by free trade/country can’t impose tariffs. Neoliberalism connects In the Shadow of Melting Glaciers, Planet of Slums, and Forest Guardians Forest Destroyers. There is multiple evidence throughout each of these pieces of literature that show many examples of the concept neoliberalism and how it’s a useful way to frame the environmental issues under investigation in these areas focused in the books.
“Neoliberal” is a term used to reference aspects of a free market capitalist economy. For a market to be titled as truly free, there isn’t any government or state instituted regulation such as taxes, minimum wage requirements, etc., and no barriers to the natural forces of supply and demand. As stated earlier, neoliberalism is practices that are political-economic that propose human well-being through a series of methods. Neoliberalism is a title for economic liberalism whose advocates support privatization, economic liberalizations, free trade/open markets, deregulation, and enhancing the role of the private sector in modern society. Neoliberalism is shown to be the essential key for global trade and investment for all nations to prosper and develop fairly and equitably. Starting in the second half of the 20th century, neoliberalism became increasingly prominent as a form of governance in countries around the world (Peters 2001). In the most recent time, there has been a revival o...
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...in developing countries. This concept is almost a guarantee in most environmental issues. Most people don’t have the slightest clue how major companies and international donor dollars and programs are effecting countries, all they see are the positives coming out of it. This in terms can be a positive side and negative aspect of using the concept. It’s nice to be educated about the issues that are occurring but in the same sense, you kind of wish you didn’t know what is happening after you have read about it. Not only is neoliberalism a concept that can be used in almost any given environmental issue, this concept can be applied productively to create more inclusive and just social and environmental futures.
Works Cited
Peters, Michael A. 2001. Poststructuralism, Marxism and Neoliberalism: Between Theory and Politics. New York: Rowman and Littlefield.
The environmental movement in politics is often overplayed causing people to loose interest in the issue, but Jarred Diamond makes it impossible to ignore the issue in his book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Jared Diamond hopes to catch as many peoples attention as he can; the name alone, “Collapse”, makes him appear to be an alarmist looking for attention. He has just cause though for blowing the whistle on society. He makes parallels to previous failed societies and to modern societies showing how the practices that we employ are similar to these failed societies. He is suggesting that America, as well as other countries, are headed down the path of ecocide more possible a global ecocide. Through his extensive research and numerous examples he makes it impossible to argue with his thesis. While all of examples seem redundant and like he is over emphasizing the point he does this to show his thoroughness. He also does it to show that he is correct. Diamond does not want to be wrong; he is a major author who gets a lot of attention when he releases a book. People look to discredit Diamond’s work. Due to this he gives ample resources to support this thesis.
Jain, Ajit, and Alexander Matejko, eds. A Critique of Marxist and Non-Marxist Thought. New York: Praeger, 1986.
In other words, neoliberalism has benefited few corporate elites, and harmed the lives of many local businesses, which has led to a dramatic increase in inequality, social polarization, and poverty.
Neoliberalism is a form of economic liberalism that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade, and relatively open markets. Neoliberals seek to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the political/economic priorities of the world and are generally supporters of economic globalization. During the 1930s and the late 1970s most Latin American countries used the import substitution industrialization model to build industry and reduce dependency on imports from foreign countries. The result of the model in these c...
Reese, Robert J. "Marxist Theory in The Metamorphosis." CaSaWoMo. N.p., 2004. Web. 01 Apr. 2014. .
Marxism has changed over the years, but in its original form, “…it proposes that material things are more important than ideas,” (Johnson 2010: 95). At face value, this theoretical approach would seem attractive to archaeologists since archaeology is the study of humans through analyzing material remains. One positive aspect to arise from Marxism is the acknowledgment of the role of individuals. Marxism stresses that, “…active, knowing subjects have considerable impact on social processes,” (McGuire 1993: 132). Compared to processual archaeology, Marxism succeeded in combining critical thought with human agency, where processualism failed to successfully incorporate both. Specifically in the United States, Latin American, and Great Britain, “…Marxist theory challenges middle-class ideology and privilege, and it is espoused by individuals who are alienated from their class position,” (McGuire 1993: 103). Marxism is a theory that tends to focus specifically around class and status. McGuire illustrates a struggle within Marxists between, “…Marxism as a totalizing theory for social action and Marxism as a theory of critique,” (McGuire 1993: 129). Even though there were internal struggles within the school of thought, Marxism did display the importance of the individual, and revealed past class struggles in this
Evans, T. L. (2011). Neoliberalism: deepening enforced dependency. Retrieved April 05, 2014, from The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability website: http://www.feasta.org/documents/enforced_dependency/neoliberalism.html
Neoliberalism is a policy model of social studies and economics that transfers control of economic factors to the private sector from the public sector. ... Neoliberal policies aim for a laissez-faire approach to economic
Over the past decades,the type of economy that has been adopted is neoliberalism. Neoliberalism creates an unstable economy to third world countries, but benefits the first world countries. Neoliberalism could be seen as the practice of unchain, liberate and free from all government boundaries and any rules that could affect the economy between the first world and the third world countries. The mandatory and regulations of the enforcements of the international and in country government associations like International Monetary Fund (IMF)and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are the causes of privatization of markets to happen. This leaves third world countries at the bottom of the global economy and as a result, they are not given the opportunity to develop economically. The cause of this is neoliberal policies since the era of colonialism has reinforced the unequal powers between the first world and third world countries.
With rising sea levels, CO2 emissions, and global temperatures, climate scientists and researchers alike are left to wonder how the global climate was allowed to progress to its present state, as well as how to stop this progression in the future. The main topic of debate in this paper will be the relationship between the free market and the environment, and if such a relationship even exists in the first place. In assessing the works and positions of both Naomi Klein and Ronald Bailey, I find Klein’s view of the negative relationship between capitalism and environmentalism to be more convincing, overall.
In its essence, neo-liberalism advocates free trade, private enterprise, the free flow of capital across borders and, importantly, restrictions on the power of trade unions. These restrictions are important to study and discuss because the world today is no longer regulated by the orthodox laws of economics where supply equals demand (more or less). Instead, we witness radical inequalities and volatility in market conditions. Unemployment remains frighteningly high in many parts of Europe while many workers in parts of Asia and Africa suffer exploitation and work punishingly long hours in extremely poor conditions for a pittance.
Everyone’s interpretation of environmental justice varies from their degree of belief and understanding of this serious subject. Though politics play a large role in the globalization of the world, it is those politics that have the power to accept or reject people’s notion. Though the characters in Edward Abbey’s book go about making their statement in an unacceptable way, to them, it is thought to make a difference in the amount of expansion they hope will not be made in the western states. As starhawk states, “we must have respect within to gain it” (30). With the respect of our selves, neighbors and our natural settings, there leaves no room for anything other than improvement.
Our lives are greatly affected by our culture, ecological environment, political environment and our economic structure. The overarching method of organizing a complex modern society relies heavily on the founding economic theories regarding method of production, method of organization, and the distribution of wealth among the members of. This paper, specifically deals with the views and theoretical backgrounds of two dominant theories of the past century, Keynesianism and Neo-liberalism. Our social economic order is product of the two theories and has evolved through many stages to come to where it is today. The two ideologies rely on different foundations for their economic outcomes but both encourage capitalism and claim it to be the superior form of economic organization. Within the last quarter of the 20th century, neo-liberalism has become the dominant ideology driving political and economic decisions of most developed nations. This dominant ideology creates disparities in wealth and creates inequality through the promotion of competitive markets free from regulation. Neo-liberal’s ability to reduce national government’s size limits the powers and capabilities of elected representatives and allows corporations to become much larger and exert far greater force on national and provincial governments to act in their favour. Hence, it is extremely important at this time to learn about the underlying power relations in our economy and how the two ideologies compare on important aspects of political economy. In comparing the two theories with respect to managing the level of unemployment, funding the welfare sates, and pursuing national or international objectives, I will argue that Keynesianism provides far greater stability, equ...
Political ecology began in the 1960s as a response to the neglect of the environment and political externalities from which it is spawned. Political ecology is the analysis of social forms and humans organizations that interact with the environment, the phenomena in and affecting the developing world. Political ecology also works to provide critiques and alternatives for negative reactions in the environment. This line of work draws from all sorts of fields, such as geography, forestry, environmental sociology, and environmental history in a complex relationship between politics, nature, and economics. It is a multi-sided field where power strategies are conceived to remove the unsustainable modern rationality and instead mobilize social actions in the globalized world for a sustainable future. The field is focused in political ethics to refresh sustainability, and the core questions of the relationships between society and ecology, and the large impacts of globalization of humanized nature.
Ecocriticism is “'the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment'” (Bressler 231). It holds that humans and the earth are interconnected and seeks both to explore the ways in which literature portrays this bond as well as advocates activism to help protect it. It is one of the more modern schools of literary theory but is a firmly established form of criticism, especially with the growing concern for the consequences of climate change caused by the imbalance between human consumption and environmental capacity.