[governance] [JNC - Forum] On the death of neo-liberalism

Wed Jun 1 11:07:30 EDT 2016

I must disagree with Norbert if, as it appears, he is delinking theory from policy and policy from practice.  The theory of neo-liberalism underlies most of current professional economics.  The great debate between Marxist political economy and "classical economics" wasn't finally resolved until the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the empty husk that Marxist economics had become finally (and formally) dissolved.  This meant that there were only remnants of critiques of classical economics left and the hegemony of neo-liberalism could move directly from academe into policy where of course it found a ready environment led by the US post-war private sector led (although public sector driven and to a considerable degree financed) expansion.

The Washington Consensus was the formalization of the transfer of neo-liberalism from the halls of academe to the highest global policy circles with all of the malevolent results that we have seen with Structural Adjustment, the Chicago Boys, the Colonels and the Generals etc. etc. 

So while the apparent collapse of the "policy" doesn't translate directly into a collapse of the "practice" (and even less a collapse of the "theory") -- as someone pointed out the practice is now extremely deeply embedded in all aspects of the economy, cultural practice, academic discourse, localized political ideologies and so on;  it is important because it removes a central element of the edifice which in the long run means that the superstructures are much more easily resistible and attackable. 

Of course, that doesn't provide much comfort to the Brazilians or others where there is a resurgence of bare knuckle neo-liberal political practice (and where Dilma’s barely concealed acceptance of the neo-liberal hegemony in the Internet among other areas has left her and her supporters without a firm ideological (or practical) foundation to move forward).  But what it does do, and this is I think is of direct relevance for us here, is that it opens up the policy space for continuing critique (if the high priests of the IMF say that it doesn't work how can the more humble friars in the IGF etc. keep spouting that nonsense).  

More importantly and this I think is our task and responsibility (of course shared with others), there is now (potentially) a vacuum where the neo-liberal/market fundamentalist policy apparatus used to dominate which is waiting expectantly to be filled.

It is thus (following Parminder) our job (and opportunity) to attack the neo-liberal hydra where ever it confronts us and of equal importance it is our job (cf. Annriette) to deny opportunities to those who would for their own purposes continue the charade.

To bore everyone with repetition but to contextualize the above discussion I need only point to my recent interactions re: the Alliance for an Affordable Internet <https://gurstein.wordpress.com/2016/04/05/the-a4ai-discussion-a-summation/>  (endorsed by a wide range of significant civil society actors among others including APC and the WebFoundation) whose explicit goal was to impose a neo-liberal Internet policy apparatus on the range of Less Developed Countries in the name of "conquering the Digital Divide".   What the astonishing about face from the IMF does is to open up a policy space for a critique of the A4AI while throwing into sharp relief the ultimate significance of what presumably was a casual and formalistic (at least from some) set of sign-ons by civil society and raise the question of why, once the underlying nature of the A4AI exercise has been made clear, there appears to have been no change in these endorsements.

It also of course, presents us with the challenge to develop an alternative set of policies re: broadening access to the Internet in opposition to those from the neo-liberal hegemonists, something where I should, add the JNC (and Community Informatics) has made useful beginnings.

M

-----Original Message-----
From: Forum [mailto:forum-bounces at justnetcoalition.org] On Behalf Of Norbert Bollow
Sent: June 1, 2016 2:56 AM
To: Roberto Bissio <rbissio at item.org.uy>
Cc: Internet governance related discussions <forum at justnetcoalition.org>
Subject: Re: [JNC - Forum] On the death of neo-liberalism

Indeed. Alas neoliberalism has never been driven by theory, it has always been driven by greed with the theory being just an attempt to justify / sugar-coat it. Also in this respect it's just like slavery.

Greetings,

Norbert

On Wed, 1 Jun 2016 11:28:34 +0200

Roberto Bissio < <mailto:rbissio at item.org.uy> rbissio at item.org.uy> wrote:

> oi Carlos!  Thanks for that comment. Neoliberalism is dead in theory, 

> now that even the best IMF economists disown it, but alive and kicking 

> in practice... just like slavery.

> 

> abraçao,

> Roberto

> 

> On Wed, Jun 1, 2016 at 3:31 AM, Carlos Afonso < <mailto:ca at cafonso.ca> ca at cafonso.ca> wrote:

> 

> > Just lurking in the lists lately, but I cannot help but comment on 

> > this view. We are going through a putsch in Brazil by a powerful 

> > right-wing coalition (big media, judiciary including the supreme 

> > court, right-wing parties dominating congress) which has already 

> > succeeded in suspending the current president (Mrs Rousseff) and is 

> > hastily carrying out a fully neoliberal program, running against 

> > time (as Rousseff might return in about 2 months) to cancel a large 

> > list of government-funded social programs and giving priority to the 

> > demands of the private sector -- including a massive privatization 

> > of key state companies and the opening of strategic resources of 

> > pre-salt oil deposits to foreign companies. It is basically as if 

> > Brazil had suddenly signed the TPP while not even being in the 

> > Pacific...

> >

> > If neoliberalism is dead, it is elsewhere, not here.

> >

> > fraternal regards

> >

> > --c.a.

> >

> > On 31/05/2016 21:59, Michael Gurstein wrote:

> > >

> >  <http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/31/witnessing-deat> http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/31/witnessing-deat

> > h-neolib

> > > eralism-imf-economists?CMP=share_btn_tw

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > Soon the only place it will be surviving is in Internet Governance 

> > > among

> > the

> > > techies, corps and particularly the fellow travelling NGO's.

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > M

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

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