KEYNESIANISM AND THE WELFARE STATE AND NEOLIBERALISM

KEYNESIANISM ==è A SET OF ECONOMIC POLICIES ATTRIBUTED TO THE BRITISH ECONOMIST JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES INTENDED TO OFFSET THE BUSINESS CYCLES OF CAPITALISM. THIS WOULD BE DONE BY DEFICIT SPENDING IN RECESSIONARY PERIODS TO PROMOTE PUBLIC WORKS, OFFSET CORPORATE EXPENSES, AND PROVIDE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE.

WELFARE STATE ===è REFERS TO A CAPITALIST SOCIETY IN WHICH THE STATE HAS INTERVENED IN THE FORM OF SOCIAL POLICIES, PROGRAMS, STANDARDS, AND REGULATIONS IN ORDER TO MITIGATE CLASS CONFLICT AND TO PROVIDE FOR, ANSWER, OR ACCOMMODATE CERTAIN SOCIAL NEEDS FOR WHICH THE CAPITALIST MODE OF PRODUCTION IN ITSELF HAS NO SOLUTION OR PROVISION. {SOCIAL ISSUES AND CONTRADICTIONS – PP 436}

NEOLIBERALISM {THE AGE OF} NEO-LIBERALISM ==è A POLITICAL ORIENTATION ORIGINATING IN THE 1960S; BLENDS LIBERAL POLITICAL VIEWS WITH AN EMPHASIS ON ECONOMIC GROWTH.

NEOLIBERALISM IS DEFINED AS A POLITICAL-ECONOMIC PHILOSOPHY THAT DE-EMPHASIZES OR {A} REJECTS POSITIVE GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN THE ECONOMY, {B} FOCUSING INSTEAD ON ACHIEVING PROGRESS AND EVEN SOCIAL JUSTICE BY ENCOURAGING FREE-MARKET METHODS AND LESS RESTRICTED OPERATIONS OF BUSINESS AND "DEVELOPMENT.” {E.G. “TRICKLE DOWN THEORY”?}

SOCIAL CITIZENSHIP ==è THE NOTION THAT ALL MEMBERS OF SOCIETY HAVE A RIGHT TO CERTAIN SOCIAL SERVICES AND PROGRAMS SUCH AS HEALTH CARE, EDUCATION, OLD AGE PENSIONS, UNEMPLOYMENT AND INJURY INSURANCE, HOUSING, WELFARE, ANS SO ON. THE PRINCIPLE OF SOCIAL WELFARE IS ACHIEVED BY UNDERMINING THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF THE CAPITALIST MARKET, NAMELY, COMPETION AMONG WORKERS, POWERLESSNESS, POVERTY, AND UNEMPLOYMENT.

IN A NEOLIBERAL SOCIETY, THE POLICIES OF SYSTEMIC PRIVATIZATION ARE BECOMING COMMONPLACE {EX. “BILL 107 – HUMAN RIGHTS} ==èTHE LEAST VISIBLE AND YET WIDELY EMPLOYED PROCESS OF PRIVATIZATION IS THE POLICY OF INCREMENTAL DEGRADATION OF BENEFITS AND SERVICES. PUBLIC SERVICES ARE INCREASINGLY RESTICTED BY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA, CANCELLATION, DISENTITLEMENT, CONTRACTING OUT, REDEFINITION TRANSFERRED RESPONSIBILITY, OR DECLINING QUALITY ==è UNDECLARED POLICIES OF EROSION – THE ELIMINATION OF BENEFITS AND SERVICES FORMERLY ASSOCIATED WITH SOCIAL CITIZENSHIP.

PRIVATIZATION ==è FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PROPERTY RIGHTS, PRIVATIZATION IS A “REASSIGNMENT OF CLAIMS TO THE CONTROL AND USE OF [STATE] ASSETS.” IN THIS SENSE, PRIVATIZATION (OR “DEREGULATION”) IS INTENDED TO UNDERMINE “THE FOUNDATION OF CLAIMS FOR PUBLIC PURPOSE AND PUBLIC SERVICE” (STARR 1989, 42).

NEOLIBERALISM HAS BECOME ENTRENCHED IN THE CANADIAN POLITICAL SPACE IN THE PAST DECADE AS THE DOMINANT COMMONSENSE UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS NATURAL AND INEVITABLE IN AN ERA OF ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION, POLITICAL CONTINENTIALIZATION, AND INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM (WHETHER STATE OR MOVEMENT-BASED). IT HAS NARROWED THE DISCOURSE OF POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL DEBATE, TRANSFORMING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE LIBERAL, SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC, OR EVEN PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY BY ASSERTING ITSELF AGAINST SOCIAL ENTITLEMENTS, RIGHTS, AND CITIZENSHIP.

PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL ECONOMY ===è [EFFORT TO ADVANCE ANALYSIS OF CREATIVE SOCIAL CHANGE] ===è PROVIDING STUDENTS WITH THE CRITICAL TOOLS THEY WILL NEED TO BOTH UNDERSTAND AND DISMANTLE THE CHRONIC RATIONALIZATION OF HARMFUL SOCIAL PRACTICES IN THE WORKPLACE.

{{PRINCIPLE OF POLITICAL ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ===è POSITS AN INTEGRAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMY AND POLITY ===è THE BELIEF THAT SOCIAL PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED BY MEANS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY}}