Neoliberalism and Markets - Essay Example

?Neoliberalism and markets are two important concepts which go together because all the social and economic policies which are being prescribed underthe philosophy of neoliberalism are driven by the market. Neoliberalism therefore is a relatively diverse philosophy and doctrine outlining not only the economic and social aspects of the life but it is also being used in the cultural studies. Neoliberalism within this context therefore focuses on the use of market language, consumer choices and efficiency in order to formulate the political, social and cultural policies. Neoliberalism therefore is based on the control of almost every aspect of life through the private sector thus reducing the role of government in controlling different aspects of life. The emergence of neoliberalism and the globalization however, also brought forward the different social and political inequalities. The changing social order which took place as a result of the neoliberalism is believed to have taken the women out of the family equation and has placed her in the midst of crisis. What is so important with the neoliberalism is that it pushes the regulation of a society out of the hands of government and places it in the hands of market with the belief that the social equality and justice will be restored. Due to the market driven social, political and economic policies, the overall labor force has became more mobile and women are now being considered as the vital part of the overall labor force of any country. The question of whether this shift towards the neoliberalism has affected men and women equally or in different manner therefore is a valid question which this paper will attempt to explore. A quicker look at the definition of neoliberalism shall be a starting point to discuss the issue of how the neoliberalism has actually affected men and women. Neoliberalism has also been explained as “Neo-liberalism is a set of economic policies that have become widespread during the last 25 years or so. Although the word is rarely heard in the United States, you can clearly see the effects of neo-liberalism here as the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer”(Martinez & Garcia,2000). The above explanation of the neoliberalism indicates a stronger link between it and the economic liberalism. Though the notion of poor gets poorer and rich gets richer has been highlighted what is also significant to note that the above definition has highlighted the issue of economic policies which are relatively free from the influence of State. Neoliberalism in this regard therefore is a completely new philosophy outlining the lesser role of State and therefore greater power to be given to the market forces. Thus the ultimate goal of neoliberalism is to expand and intensify the markets to such level that every transaction takes place based on the market forces. The ultimate objective of neoliberalism therefore is to envisage a world where every aspect of life is governed by the markets. One of the aims of the neoliberalism therefore are to convert most of the social acts and relations according to the market transactions thus allowing competition to take place between each being. Economic rationality therefore is considered as the driving philosophy behind the regulation of a perfect society. This also means that the overall social relations, gender specific roles as well as the position of man and woman radically altered as a result of this shift towards the more market oriented society based on the notion of economic rationality. Since economic competition served as the guiding principle therefore the maximization of the neoliberalism’s ideology. It is in this wake the sex or gender specific roles have reversed also due to the increasing emphasis on the competition and market driven social relations. The basic ideology of liberalism is based on the liberty and freedom and thus this very fact outline the disappearance of the social relations which might result into any kind of handicap between the social relations and compromise the liberty of the individuals. The changing sphere of the relationship between the State and the individuals and the increasing emphasis only on seeking one’s own rights therefore has put the traditional male and female roles in the society at a divide. What neoliberalism has also done is that it attempted to break the hegemony of the larger groups on the smaller groups and redeveloped the political representations based on the basis of new ideological ground. Neoliberalism ideologies therefore at their core also advocate the creation of so called greater democracy which can also create the social cohesion as well as the consensus at the society level. (Leys, 2001) The inherent strength of neoliberalism therefore lies in the assumption that the State can be manipulated by the majority groups and all the political outcomes can be maneuvered according to the wishes of the majority thus can result into the economic inefficiencies also both at the domestic as well as at the global level. It has also been argued that the neoliberalism has the basic purpose of the establishment of the capital accumulation at the global level and restores the power of economically powerful individuals. Most however, argue that neoliberalism has only resulted into the increase of political and economic power of a small group of economically elite individuals at the global level. It is therefore argued that the neoliberalism is often an attitude rather than a comprehensive set of philosophy which can guide the social and economic relations. The success of economic elites in gaining more power and foothold into the affairs of the nation states and their social relations and structures therefore made a sharp divide between the traditional gender specific roles in such societies developed over the period of time. The more fluid nature of the workforce, increasing economic competition as well as the no role of government in shaping the society presents a challenge to the already established principles on which society has built itself over the period of time. The neoliberalism has advocated a new global world order where governments are also part of this new order and their old roles and responsibilities have reversed too in the wake of this new development. What is also important to note that due to this, the overall gender and specific roles have changed too. This change in the roles have created so called crisis as both the feminist ideologies as well as the masculinity issues are considered to be going through a profound change. It has been argued that with the second wave feminism there is a crisis of masculinity both on the external as well as internal front. Increasing competition between men and women not only at the schools and universities but at the workplaces has increasingly put men at really an odd situation. Due to this reason, there also emerged a sense of anxiety within men regarding how they should act and behave in their personal as well as professional relationships. More freedom to the different agents in the society such as media and greater voice being given to women therefore has also contributed towards the creation of a negative image for men. This has often being the directly resulting into the violent behavior from men under different situations.( Edwards, 2006) The above discussion therefore lightly introduces the impact of increasing competition between men and women as a result of neoliberal ideologies. The increasing pressure on men therefore seems to have reversed the traditional roles and it is generally argued that men are relatively now unaware or unsure about his role under different settings within the society. The sense of so called powerlessness and loss of traditional masculine power is believed to have been the direct result of the increasing competition between men and women. It is also important to note that as the neoliberal economic policies found their voice in the governments, more and more emphasis was placed on the development of a global economic society was felt. Due to this shift in the approach, the overall contribution of the manufacturing sector- a more male dominated labor intensive sector- shifted towards a services oriented economy. Due to this shift towards the service oriented economy, women became a serious challenge to the men because of their increasing presence in the service oriented jobs. This shift in the employment structure and the resulting re-distribution of wealth therefore has also called the so called masculine crisis because of the rapidly decreasing power of men in the society and in the family. This shift however, was initially witnessed in countries like Britain and US where women started to occupy the larger portion of employment in the jobs and therefore started to gain significant economic power and liberty- a promise which has been made by the neoliberalism if its policies and prescriptions are being taken seriously. When the industrial revolution started to take its roots in countries like UK and other European countries, work was considered to be something which can portray a strong masculine identity. Since the start of the industrial revolution, the focus was on the manufacturing activities therefore, men, being the naturally strong, were considered as the major source of labor for such work. This also provided men a strong separate identity within the society as well as in home however, a shift towards more services oriented economic activity and shift of the manufacturing activities to cheaper geographic locations has readjusted this balance between the men and women in a traditional Western society. This was against the so called initial postwar period in which governments controlled the running of the economy. The so called State sponsored capitalism therefore played a key role in shaping and reshaping the different social relations with more dominance being given to the male oriented jobs. It has been argued that during that era, androcentrism emerged as one of the dominant philosophies wherein the State sponsored capitalist ideologies viewed man as the ethnic majority worker in the society and as an ideal citizen. It was therefore strongly believed that the wages earned by this ideal citizen shall form the major portion of the family’s income and thus male dominated societies started to become more male oriented because of the economic dependence of women on men. What is also significant to note that this also became the ideal for the State policy to be made in terms of work and employment? Based on the Fordist philosophy, men were therefore given greater significance as the economic agents of the family responsible for winning bread and butter for the family with the wages of the wife serving just as a supplemental income for the family.( Fraser, 2009) Neoliberalism however, brought a completely new spirit to the capitalism and with the introduction of this new spirit also came what is called the second wave feminism. The new vigor and approach adapted by neoliberalism therefore have provided women a relatively new position within the society and therefore allowed the readjustment of the labor force within an economy along with initiating an adjustment process in the social relations also. It has also been argued that the rise of the neoliberalism also shifted the overall political voice where more emphasis was laid on recognition and identity rather than the old political maneuvering. This shift towards politics of identity and recognition therefore also gave women a completely new life and a new terrain to play with and directly compete with the men while gaining the required social and political recognition. What is also significant to understand that the greater role of women in the work force has not been without its own prejudices? Though the women are now making the significant part of the workforce however, most of the decision making power still remains within the hands of men. This invariably therefore creates an inherent prejudice and bias towards women in terms of their career progression as well as the monetary benefits given to them. Thus due to this shift towards more globalized service industry, women has became a significant part of the workforce however, they are not yet full allowed to take the liberty and the choices which are available to the men. This is potentially restricting their career growth and thus further limiting their participation in the higher hierarchy of the organizations. It is also important to understand that with the adjustments in the social relations between the men and women in the traditional Western societies, women also became a source of pleasure and a sex symbol. The subsequent portrayal of women through the modern media and films made it a sex symbol and crafted an entirely new identity for women where women increasingly became an entirely independent entity however, with a value proposition. This value proposition was her sex appeal and her status as a tool of pleasure. Magazines like Maxim allowed the flourishing of a feminist identity which completely showed an entirely new rupture from the past identity of women and brought women into a new spotlight. Arguments by Imelda Whelehan are relatively more pertinent in this regard where she argued that the popular magazines like Maxim, Loaded etc have presented women as a sex symbol or object. In a sense this image is also considered as a depiction of the masculinity because such image of the women is basically driven in order to appease the masculine wishes. This in fact is also a reversal of the feminism and all out male oriented attempt to rebrand the identity and recognition of women based on the sex symbols or objects rather than posing them in their new spotlight gained in tandem with the rise of neoliberalism.( Whelan, 2000) Due to the emergence of neoliberalism and more commercial oriented society where economic agents directly compete with each other, women have also been cashed in. The legalization of the prostitution is one very vibrant examples of how the commercialism can actually force women to adapt the occupations which may not be entirely of their liking. Though the legalization may have some political and economic reasons to give women more freedom and choice in terms of adapting their own professions and having more economic freedom however, underlying this is a gore reality of how women are being subjected to the pleasure of men. In such situations, the absence of State and complete control of the market forces presents an ethical dilemma. It is an Ethical dilemma in the sense that State has the basic responsibility of ensuring the economic interests of its citizens. It also has to ensure that it can provide a certain degree of support to those who are low wage earners or on low income is potentially being violated. (Power, 2009). Postfeminist ideas however, also attempted to highlight the immobile nature of the women even if they participate increasingly in the work force. This suggests that despite the increasing space being given to the women in the workplace, women are still not as mobile workers as the males are. This therefore has been linked with the inherent wishes of the women to remain closer to their homes and adapt a culture which gives home a new and renewed importance in the life of a woman. This therefore is showing a trend which is suggesting a reversal to the original position of women where home served as a best abode for her. (Negra, 2008) The above discussion suggests that neoliberalism has actually treated men and women differently because of its inherent nature. Neoliberalism is based on the ideology of economic competition and market driven economics which also derives the social and political sphere of the life. With the absence of State from the whole scene, market serves as the only regulator of Society and its every aspect. Due to this shift towards market oriented society, men and women actually became competitors. This has actually resulted into the redefinition of the social relations between the two and women started to get more economic freedom and choice. The traditional masculinity became a thing of past and thus men and women became equally significant. It is also however, important to note that with this increasing choice and newly found place in the society, women were increasingly portrayed as objects of pleasure and sex. The postfeminist projection of women through media has therefore largely been concentrated on exploring the commercial aspect of women’s sexual appeal. References 1. Edwards, T (2006) Cultures of Masculinity, London Routledge. 2. Fraser, N (2009) ‘Feminism, Capitalism and the Cunning of History’ in New Left Review 56. Verso 3. Leys, C (2001) Market Driven Politics: Neoliberal Democracy and the Public, London, Verso 4. Martinez, E & Garcia , A (2000). What is "Neo-Liberalism"? [online]. [Accessed 21st Feb 2011]. Available from: . 5. Negra, D (2008) What a Girl Wants: Fantasiszing the Reclamation of Self in Postfeminism, London Routledge 6. Power, N (2009). One-dimensional woman. 1st. ed. New York: Zero Books. 7. Whelan,I(2000) Overloaded: Popular Culture and the Future of Feminism, The Women’s Press Read More