2. Liberalism-Freedom of the individual
NeoLiberalism-Freedom of the individual through free market
+ Defence + Police + Law
- Welfare, – Health, – Education, –Science ,– Evironment
Set of expectations, not observation of reality
Thorkelson, N. (2000). The comic strip of Neoliberalism[Cartoon], Retrieved from http://nickthorkelson.com/neolibintro.html
3. Neoliberalism and Power
Freedoms for Wealthy, Restrictions for Poor
Social Darwinism
Meme-an idea or set of ideas that replicate and mutate analogous to genes
Repressed-> Poor
Empowered-> Wealthy
Power given by-> Neoliberalism
4. Reducing Youth Unemployment
Part 1-Job Commitment Bonus
-Youth who keep job for 12 continuous months receive $2,500
-For 2 years will receive extra $4,000
Part 2-Relocation Assistance
-Youth will receive additional $6000 if they relocate to take up a job
GETTY (2012). Slackers’ brains ‘are wired to under-
achieve’[Photograph], Retrieved from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-
news/9239372/Slackers-brains-are-wired-to-under-
achieve.html
5. Application of situation to Power Definition
Repressed-Youth
Power-Employers
Power given by-Neoliberal Ideology
6. References
• Australian Government (2014), Job Commitment Bonus for Young Australians, Retrieved 23rd April 2014,
from http://employment.gov.au/news/job-commitment-bonus-young-Australians
• Dawkins, R. (1989). The selfish gene. 1976. revised edn. Oxford.
• Grayling, A. C. (2010). Ideas that Matter: The Concepts that Shape the 21st Century. Basic Books.
• GETTY (2012). Slackers’ brains ‘are wired to under-achieve’[Photograph], Retrieved from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9239372/Slackers-brains-are-wired-to-under-
achieve.html
• Harvey, D. (2007). Neoliberalism as creative destruction. the annals of the american Academy of political and
social science, 610(1), 21-44.
• Merriam-Webster (2014). Power. Retrieved 14th May, 2014, from < http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/power >.
• Thorkelson, N. (2000). The comic strip of Neoliberalism[Cartoon], Retrieved from
http://nickthorkelson.com/neolibintro.html
• Wordpress (2011).Neoliberal Hegemony-an unfinished project [Photograph], Retrieved from
http://anticap.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/neoliberal-hegemony%E2%80%94an-unfinished-project/
Editor's Notes
In the unit Repression, Power and Politics we looked into Neoliberalism. The term Neo-liberalism refers to a sociological theory on politics. In particular it is a political theory that is grounded upon the free market and has become one of the most dominant political theories in Western Society. In this blog I will sketch the political theory of neoliberalism, provide some context, explain its relevance in modern Australian Society and I will then end by looking at its placement of power.
Formal Neoliberal thought stems from Liberalism. Liberalism being a political outlook that seeks the establishment and protection of civil liberties and this individual freedom (Grayling, 2010). Neoliberalism goes a step further, and views private property rights as essential to individual freedom, and thus private property rights and their protection become the highest priority in society. Neoliberalism hence views that the national resources should be devoted to the maintenance of defence, police and judicial functions as these are necessary to protect the free market, while sectors such as Welfare, Health, education, science and the environment, unless profit can be made, should privatised or ignored (Harvey, 2007). Ironically, despite neoliberalism’s tendency to be inept with economic management, economic management is their highest priority and the theory dictates that through successful economic management all other problems in society will be simultaneously solved. Being a sociological theory, neoliberalism is merely a set of expectations, and not a scientific theory, which is based upon observations of the real wold. Neoliberalism does not rely on evidence to persist.
In a neoliberal society due to the valuation of private property rights, the wealthiest in society receive the greatest freedoms whilst the poorest receive the greatest restrictions. Failure in neoliberal societies is attributed to a lack of competitive spirit, which draws many parallels to Hubert Spencer’s social Darwinism (Harvey, 2007). In this case, the selection pressure lies not with genetics but Wealth and memetics, in which the selection process is upheld by the free market. Applying this to the definition of power as provided by the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the poor fall under the repressed, the Wealthy fall under the empowered, and they are empowered via the memetic construct of neoliberalism itself.
Recently the Federal Government has taken initiative in dealing with the high youth unemployment in Australia. In 2014 The Federal government created a plan called the Job Commitment Bonus. The Job commitment bonus works by providing youth who get and keep a job for more than 12 months with $2,500, and a further $4000 if they keep their job for a second year. The logic here being that the cause of the high unemployment is that the youth are not competitive enough, and need incentive. This plan ignores other possible challenges that face youth, such as getting the interviews in the first place and in lacking the sufficient training or skills for the current work environment.
With the onus being on the unemployed youth, this fits within the power model as provided by the Merriam webster dictionary, with the unemployed youth being the repressed, controlled to behave in a manner they do would normally not, by the employers who are empowered by the state and neoliberal ideology.
![Liberalism-Freedom of the individual
NeoLiberalism-Freedom of the individual through free market
+ Defence + Police + Law
- Welfare, – Health, – Education, –Science ,– Evironment
Set of expectations, not observation of reality
Thorkelson, N. (2000). The comic strip of Neoliberalism[Cartoon], Retrieved from http://nickthorkelson.com/neolibintro.html](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)