[Interview] How does Harvey define neoliberalism and how does he distinguish it from capitalism? What is the political history and struggles behind the rise of neoliberal policies?
[Spaces of Hope] What are some of the main aspects of globalization, according to Harvey (CH4)? How do changes in global capitalism effect the spatial and human geography of the city of Baltimore (CH8)?
Harvey defines neoliberalism as a "political project" controlled by the capitalist corporate class. The upper capitalist class created neoliberalism to fight their suppressed political and economic status as the wave of the revolution in the 70's started to go into effect around the world. He explains how neoliberalism is different from capitalism through the many ways in which one can talk about capitalism such as ethical or honest capitalism and the sharing economy like, Aribnb and Uber. neoliberalism to Harvey is not as serious of a problem as capitalism because capitalism is the root of neoliberalism and goes in many different directions. Neoliberalism is the privatization and globalization of companies. The political history included republicans (who were part of the capitalist upper class) coming together to overrule the democrats in the 1970's. This then resulted in the new power of the capitalist upper class to legally buy elections which then gave rise to neoliberal policies by creating an even bigger movement of solidarity and thus this capitalist corporate group gained more wealth and power. However, there has been many different crises around the world that were created from neoliberal policies since the 70's. These struggles were then continuous throughout the years and efforts to fix them included reorganizing and bailing out the banks, such as "throwing out all the Keynesians from the world bank by eliminating all the advisers who held Keynesian beliefs", as well as saving the New York investment banks instead of the people of Mexico during the debt crisis there in 82.
ReplyDeleteHarvey describes neoliberalism as a political project that could curb the power of labor. It was a political project that emerged from the corporate capitalist class due to them feeling threatened both economically and politically towards the end of the 1960s in to the 1970s. In the wake of revolutionary movements in the developing world, neoliberalism stood as a counterrevolutionary project.
ReplyDeleteHarvey distinguishes neoliberalism from capitalism in that the focus is a more globalized economy. A key difference is the outsourcing of labor. Another difference is the technological change of deindustrialization through automation and robotization put forth by neoliberalism.
In respect to political history, Harvey explains the interaction between neoliberalism and politics throughout history. The corporate capitalist class managed to influence politics by capturing the Republican Party in combination with an attempt to undermine the Democratic Party. This led to the Supreme Court making decisions that "allowed the capitalist class to buy elections more easily," as explained by Harvey.
David Harvey describes neoliberalism as being a political project that corporate companies and the bourgeoisie put in place because they believed laborers had too much power. Before neoliberalism, most of corporate company’s labor came from within the United States. By the 70s, these laborers fought for a multitude of social reforms including Occupational Health and Safety Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other things. As a response to these anti-corporate ideals threatening their power, corporates started looking for labor elsewhere or, in other words, using outsourced labor. This then created a loss of jobs within the United States. Capitalism is different from neoliberalism though; It was in place before neoliberalism started. Neoliberalism is a form of capitalism which is even more privatized and deregulated. David Harvey goes on to talk about a series of crises and their effects on neoliberalism. This leads me to the question – how might the coronavirus crisis ultimately affect neoliberalism?
ReplyDeleteDavid Harvey in his interview describes neoliberalism as a system which allows corporations and capitalists to reclaim power from laborers who were gaining momentum in earning their rights in 1960s into the 1970s. He emphasized on production created through "technological change, automation, and robotization" to squash the necessity of labors, therefor restructuring the aspect of the Left to reinforce and mirror the aspect of neoliberalism. He understands this concept of neoliberalism as a subject involved in intensifying capitalism, highlighting outsourcing labor and flexible accumulation utilized in the global economy to establish systems that reduces the need for workers producing locally. Historically, the rise of neoliberalism as discussed by Harvey was to maintain political power, he emphasizes this through buying elections, stating "For example, you see reforms of campaign finance that treated contributions to campaigns as a form of free speech. There’s a long tradition in the United States of corporate capitalists buying elections but now it was legalized rather than being under the table as corruption." These contributions toward buying elections increased the solidarity among the corporate capitalist, therefor increasing power needed to recover the wealth that was lost in 1960s into the 1970s.
ReplyDeleteWith a new wave of resistance, "neoliberalism" is considered at large to be a big target for critique of contemporary society in the United States. David Harvey would define neoliberalism as a political project carried out by corporate capiltalists to distinguish the threat of powerful labor and youth. What makes neoliberalism more than just an ideology that can be observed in different time periods is that it is actually a term used to signify the transition that took place in the 1960's-70's to curb the power of labor. Harvey called this project an anti-revolution. Neoliberalism was meant to halt the revolt of the work force. However, the reaction included the reoccurance of communist influences as well as the U.S. Democratic Congress to act in an anti-corporate manner, through entities like OSHA and EPA. Harvey talks about the different fronts that the corporate capitalists had to tackle. The first one was the ideological front. At the time (the 1970s), students and staff at universities were a very strong and liberal threat. To deter them, think tanks were founded to conduct research which would in turn flood the press and influence the public. Although a slow process, today it would be considered rather successful because universities are practically taken over by neoliberal projects. The second front is the labor front. To combat the power of the labor force, corporate capitalists worked to make domestic labor competitive with global labor. To do so, it was essential to move capital to low wage countries, which was only possible after reducing tariffs and empowering finance capital (which is most mobile). Overall, they succeeded in crushing the labor force by creating unemployment at home, offshoring the jobs that were left, and using technology to cut back jobs even further. The political entity chosen to represent the corporate capitalists was the Republican Party. Prior to the 1970s, political corruption was taking place heavily under the table. As a new and more public form of manipulation, the Supreme Court made decisions that allowed corporate capitalists to buy elections publicly by claiming them as a "form of free speech". As the political structures changed in favor for neoliberalism, crises in other countries were manipulated to benefit the needs of the corporate capitalists. Keynesians theorists were kicked out of research and replaced with neoclassical, supply-side theorists. However, the high point of this system has passed. While the U.S. still has a strong global position, it does not nearly match what it was in the 1970s primarily because of the Cold War. Other countries do not rely on the U.S. as they once did. Harvey also mentions that the labor resistance is obsolete - the battle was lost in the 1980s. The workforce has bowed down, no longer feeling an immediate threat anymore. However, Harvey is sure to mention that while the capitalist class is currently doing well, capitalism itself is suffering because there is little re-investment circulating back into production. Towards the end of the interview, Harvey discusses ways to fight neoliberalism. He emphasizes the importance of value - not only during the production process, but through consumption. He also mentions the idea of "ethical capitalism", which would just entail capitalists who are honest, not theives. However, he thinks even the transition to honesty wouldn't be enough to improve the system because the fundamental problems go too deep. At this point, it will likely take a full on revolution to reverse the work of corporate capitalists.
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