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Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
SOCIAL PROTECTION
Louise Francis
NEOLIBERALISM +
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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Overview
Introduction to neoliberalism
Implications for health promotion
Regulating personal choice
Public benefits vs individual freedoms
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
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CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
5. Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
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CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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Classical liberalism
A philosophy committed to the ideal of limited government
and liberty of individuals including freedom of religion,
speech, press, assembly, and free markets.
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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Neoliberalism
“Neoliberalism is in the first instance a theory of political
economic practices that proposes that human well-being
can best be advanced by liberating entrepreneurial
freedoms and skills within an institutional framework
characterized by strong private property rights, free
markets, and free trade”
Harvey, 2005
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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Neoliberalism:
The market is the best and most efficient determiner of supply,
demand, and price of goods and services.
The market is merely a reflection of consumers’ needs and desires, so
the more free we are to pursue those needs and desires, the better the
economic system will work.
State interference introduces a wrench in this system, sending artificial
signals to the market, and thus resulting in less efficiency and a
reduced ability to provide goods and services.”
Hartmann-Mahmud, 2009
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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Neoliberalism:
Neo-liberals see government both as inherently inefficient
and as too easily captured by interest groups seeking to
advance their own private interests at the public expense.
Their solution is to give priority, wherever possible, to
markets because they are rational and immune to the
political pleadings of noisy interest groups.
Hence neoliberalism is sometimes dubbed economic
rationalism
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
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Neoliberalism
1. Deregulation
2. Privatisation
3. Commodification
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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Neoliberalism
“Though the emphasis here is on the market and
government structures, neoliberalism is by no means just
an economic and political term – it is inherently social and
moral in its philosophy.”
Ayo, 2012
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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Activity 5.1: Influence of neoliberalism
1. What is meant by laissez-faire and why was it promoted by classical
liberals?
2. Why are Marxists critical of the capitalist state?
3. Why are neoliberal advocates critical of the state?
4. The article by Ayo critiques the way neoliberal ideas have influenced some
approaches in health promotion. What is ‘healthism’ and what are some of
the negative outcomes that a focus on this might produce?
Homework questions (see video on BB):
1. How does Hon. Aaron Stonehouse MLC describe the role of government
and the free market? How does he describe ‘negative rights’?
2. How does Hon. Aaron Stonehouse MLC describe a libertarian view of law
and order with reference to drug policy?
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
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Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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One alternative: social-structuralism
Social-structuralism sees that the individual does not exist in isolation
from wider social influences and determinants and sees health status
as a profound indicator of social position, especially of social
disadvantage.
Therefore, solutions to policy problems must be grounded in social and
structural reform.
Welfarists are akin to social structuralists. They believe that
governments should protect people against poverty and the extremes
of market economies and economic rationalism.
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
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https://thewest.com.au/politics/state-politics/parties-united-over-nanny-state-laws-ng-b88941725z
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
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Personal choice and community impacts:
An inquiry into measures introduced to restrict
personal choice 'for the individual's own good'.
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2015/s4311191.htm
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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Do you think the different public
interests/rights are important in and
of themselves? How do they align
with public health principles of justice
and equity?
Do you think that the rationale of
public benefits outlined are sufficient
to impinge on these rights? In what
circumstances should the individual
interests outweigh any claims for a
‘common good’ public benefit?
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
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Discussion: Taking a position
In groups you will prepare an
argument for presentation to
the class drawing on concepts
covered in the unit:
For a fat tax
Against a fat tax
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Module 5: Neoliberalism and Social Protection
Health Partnerships, Politics and Power
Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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Key concepts
Neoliberalism
Social-structuralism
Public benefit
Individual interest
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Next week
Political Ideologies in Practice
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Questions & comments
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Editor's Notes
1
What does this word mean to you?
They should come up with some of the stuff from liberal democracy.
I then used to show the next slides relatively quickly to trigger a discussion on the word and how it is often associated with a specific political party but the meaning of the word varies a bit.
The word is used in several contexts to mean very different things.
In Australia it is a political party that has a combination of conservative social values and adherence to minimal government and the free market.
In America, Obama was considered a liberal.
So what does the term actually mean and where does it come from?
This one seemed a bit more liberal than the others…
This is plagiarised from Wikipedia for your own reference. Students don’t need to know this (just what is on the slide).
Classical liberalism developed in the nineteenth century in Western Europe, and the Americas. Although classical liberalism built on ideas that had already developed by the end of the eighteenth century, it advocated a specific kind of society, government and public policy required as a result of the Industrial Revolution and urbanization.[2] Notable individuals who have contributed to classical liberalism include Jean-Baptiste Say, Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo.[3]
It drew on the economics of Adam Smith, a psychological understanding of individual liberty, natural law and utilitarianism, and a belief in progress. Classical liberals established political parties that were called "liberal", although in the United States classical liberalism came to dominate both existing major political parties.[1]
There was a revival of interest in classical liberalism in the twentieth century led by Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman.[4]
The term classical liberalism was applied in retrospect to distinguish earlier nineteenth-century liberalism from the newer social liberalism.[6] The phrase classical liberalism is also sometimes used to refer to all forms of liberalism before the twentieth century, and some conservatives and libertarians use the term classical liberalism to describe their belief in the primacy of economic freedom and minimal government. It is not always clear which meaning is intended.[7][8][9]
the importance of deregulating markets and privatizing public institutions
Despite all the argy bargy we see in parliaments – a lot of legislation is supported by both major parties and passes without contentious debate. Why is that?
Because the major and most minor parties and independents share a common outlook.
Now for a definition of neoliberalism. As the name implies, neoliberalism is a descendant of classical liberalism, defined by the fact that it is a reaction against social democracy, which also draws heavily on the liberal tradition. The US use of ‘liberal’ to mean ‘social democrat’ reflects the latter point.
Because it is primarily based on a critique of social democracy, neoliberalism places much more weight on economic freedom than on personal freedom or civil liberties, reversing the emphasis of classical liberalism. Indeed, it is fair to say that on matters of personal freedom, neoliberalism is basically agnostic, encompassing a range of views from repressive traditionalism to libertarianism.
In terms of economic policy, neoliberalism is constrained by the need to compete with the achievements of social democracy. Hence, it is inconsistent with the kind of dogmatic libertarianism that would leave the poor to starvation or private charity, and would leave education to parents. Neoliberalism seeks to cut back the role of the state as much as possible while maintaining public guarantees of access to basic health, education and income security.
The core of the neoliberal program is (i) to remove the state altogether from ‘non-core’ functions such as the provision of infrastructure services (ii) to minimise the state role in core functions (health, education, income security) through contracting out, voucher schemes and so on (iii) to reject redistribution of income except insofar as it is implied by the provision of a basic ‘safety net’.
With this definition, a reasonably pure form of neoliberalism (except for some subsidies to favored businesses) is embodied in the program of the US Republican Party, and particularly the Contract with America proposed by Gingrich in 1994. The ACT Party in New Zealand also takes a fairly clear neoliberal stance, as do the more ideologically consistent elements of the British Conservative Party and the Australian Liberal Party.
Therefore central to a neoliberal approach is the idea that private corporations are competing with each other do a better job than governments, not only in providing consumer goods and services but also in providing services such as health, education and welfare and services like power, water and transport. Privatisation of state assets is seen as a key strategy for improving efficiency and reducing the expenses of governments which then allow this to flow on to lower taxation on individual citizens.
Note the raitonalism mentioned here. There is this assumption that the market without human interference is an optimal system and not affected by irrational decision making. We’ll come back to this idea of rationality when we discuss policy development in a couple of weeks.
Three key themes of neoliberal thinking:
Deregulation – removal of restrictions and rules for business (freeing the market)
Privatisation – commercial enterprise are better placed than governments to deliver goods and services
Commodification – society is seen through an economic lens that assigns value to everything so that they can be traded. Ideas, bodies, the environment. Even health becomes a commodity that can be purchased (apparently)…
Therefore central to a neoliberal approach is the idea that private corporations are competing with each other do a better job than governments, not only in providing consumer goods and services but also in providing services such as health, education and welfare and services like power, water and transport. Privatisation of state assets is seen as a key strategy for improving efficiency and reducing the expenses of governments which then allow this to flow on to lower taxation on individual citizens.
Note the rationalism mentioned here. There is this assumption that the market without human interference is an optimal system and not affected by irrational decision making. We’ll come back to this idea of rationality when we discuss policy development in a couple of weeks.
Neo-liberals see government both as inherently inefficient and as too easily captured by interest groups seeking to advance their own private interests at the public expense. Their solution is to give priority , wherever possible, to markets because they are rational and immune to the political pleadings of noisy interest groups. Hence neoliberalism is sometimes dubbed ‘economic rationalism’ “Neoliberalism is the defining political economic paradigm of our time — it refers to the policies and processes whereby a relative handful of private interests are permitted to control as much as possible of social life in order to maximize their personal profit. Associated initially with Reagan and Thatcher, for the past [3] decades neoliberalism has been the dominant global political economic trend adopted by political parties of the center and much of the traditional left as well as the right” (McChesney, 7).
This article provides an opportunity to talk about the way neoliberalism centres individualism and freedom as core values and that priority is reflected culturally as well as economically.
There is a question on this in the activity in a few slides so can leave deeper discussion on this idea until then.
We switch now to a related discussion which is the debates around government interference to protect health and what some commentators refer to as the ‘nanny state’
Watch this ‘debate’ and debrief.
There is a handout with this table on it in the folder. See how you go with time. You may like to skip this (as gets a bit theoretical) and spend more time on the next slide.
Do you think the different public interests/rights are important in and of themselves? How do they align with public health principles of justice and equity?
Do you think that the rationale of public benefits outlined are sufficient to impinge on these rights? In what circumstances should the individual interests outweigh any claims for a ‘common good’ public benefit?
This can be done quickly by asking for responses or more formally by allocating groups, giving time for group work to develop a response. In larger classes I would allocate a few groups to each side and then alternate their presentations back to the whole class. We haven’t taught them formal debating techniques but they can be encouraged to add in a rebuttal of previous presentations if they can think of them on the fly.
