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Political and Cultural Consequences of Neo-Liberalism
Introduction
The word neo-liberalism can be rooted from globalisation. The term neo-liberalism could also imply fundamentalism, and these two terms are in most cases interchangeably used. Neo-liberalism can be defined as a conjecture of political economic, which holds that the ultimate well being of people can only be improved through liberating their individual entrepreneurial freedoms and skills. This theory suggests that individual entrepreneurial freedom can be achieved inside an institutional framework that is distinguished by strong private property rights, free markets and free trade. Neo-liberalism as a theory requires that the role of state should be, to create and protect the institutional framework developed. The state, therefore, should set up all the necessary mechanisms and institutions such as the military, defence, police, and legal structures to secure such institutions. When this is done, the state would have guaranteed property rights and proper functioning of markets. Furthermore, the law of neo-liberalism states that if markets are nonexistent, then the government must create them (Harvey, 2005:1).
The state is not supposed to go beyond creation of markets and institutions necessary. This means that the state should not interfere with the markets once created. It should keep a minimal role, because, according to this theory, the government does not have sufficient knowledge on the market undertaking. Moreover, some people in the market may bias state interference for their own gains. Deregulation of market functioning, privatisation of companies, and removal of the government interference have been the strongest terms of neo-liberalism in the world today (Foucault, 2008:2). A neoliberal government is thus committed to instituting and favouring strong individual property rights, effective rule of law for all its citizens, and freely enabled markets trade. According to the theory, these
Introduction
The word neo-liberalism can be rooted from globalisation. The term neo-liberalism could also imply fundamentalism, and these two terms are in most cases interchangeably used. Neo-liberalism can be defined as a conjecture of political economic, which holds that the ultimate well being of people can only be improved through liberating their individual entrepreneurial freedoms and skills. This theory suggests that individual entrepreneurial freedom can be achieved inside an institutional framework that is distinguished by strong private property rights, free markets and free trade. Neo-liberalism as a theory requires that the role of state should be, to create and protect the institutional framework developed. The state, therefore, should set up all the necessary mechanisms and institutions such as the military, defence, police, and legal structures to secure such institutions. When this is done, the state would have guaranteed property rights and proper functioning of markets. Furthermore, the law of neo-liberalism states that if markets are nonexistent, then the government must create them (Harvey, 2005:1).
The state is not supposed to go beyond creation of markets and institutions necessary. This means that the state should not interfere with the markets once created. It should keep a minimal role, because, according to this theory, the government does not have sufficient knowledge on the market undertaking. Moreover, some people in the market may bias state interference for their own gains. Deregulation of market functioning, privatisation of companies, and removal of the government interference have been the strongest terms of neo-liberalism in the world today (Foucault, 2008:2). A neoliberal government is thus committed to instituting and favouring strong individual property rights, effective rule of law for all its citizens, and freely enabled markets trade. According to the theory, these
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