Anti-Politics Machine - Essay Example

Anti-Politics Machine Anti-Politics Machine Accumulation by Dispossession Basically, accumulation by dispossession is a phenomena/ concept that tends to define neoliberal capitalist strategies and policies which leads to the centralization of power, wealth and influence in the hands of a few people by for example stripping the public of their land or wealth. The accumulation by dispossession policies are mostly guided by financialization, state redistributions, manipulation or management of crises and privatization practices. The concept comes from the bovine mystique and is used to refer to the privatization of the pasture lands. 2) Anti-Politics Machine The concept in its simplest terms implies that development agencies are not allowed to mingle or involve themselves with politics. As such, the concept emanates from the notion that development institutions are supposed not to interact with the state politics. In the Thaba Tseka project, the project developers ignored the influence of the state. This always leads to project failure. 3) Development Apparatus The development apparatus are the projects that are launched to help better the lives of people. Although these projects tend to systematically fail, they often lead to the expansion of bureaucratic control. 4) Neoliberalism Neoliberalism can simply be taken to mean a state’s economic ideology which is based on the promotion of rational self-interest via the adoption of policies such as deregulation, privatization and globalization. In the Bovine Mystique, the government attempts to privatize pasture land. Fergusons chapter on the Bovine Mystique in The Anti-Politics Machine Anti-Politics Machine and Accumulation by Dispossession Concepts The Thaba – Tseka project was founded on the assumptions that the people were subsistence farmers, and that they also lived in isolation majorly because they lacked a good road network. Another major assumption was that the Lesotho government is made up of benevolent leaders who only wish to upgrade and modernize their nation but they have inadequate technical knowledge and resources to accomplish their wish and objectives. These three assumptions hence allowed the project to construct a road network so as to make it quite easy for the local population to transport their agricultural products, to educate farmers on how to shift from subsistence to commercial exporting of agricultural produce, and lastly, the project was meant to help the Lesotho government in its journey of properly administering development. For instance, during phase one of the project, establishment of a road network that would link Thaba – Tseka to Maseru was a priority (p.76 anti-politics machine). As illustrated from phase one objectives, the project is focused on development purposes and as such is steering clear of politics. These three assumptions tend to be mostly false. For example, more than a hundred years prior to the project, the Basotho people were grain exporters. They exported their grains throught the whole of South Africa. Additionally, during the commencement of the project, most people earned their income from working in mines and not from farming. Actually, when compared to farming productivity, wage labor productivity was higher. Furthermore, the government of Lesotho was majorly concerned with maintaining and extending its power influence and not on the success of the project. This brings into focus the anti-politics machine concept. Although vehemently acknowledging that the project was meant for development purposes, the Lesotho government had other intentions of increasing bureaucracy. As such, the accumulation by dispossession and anti-politics concepts apply. Studies and research on the Bovine Mystique mostly illustrate that interventions or projects often rely on anti-political maneuvering so as to achieve support and legitimacy. To gain political legitimacy, these projects construct themselves as being separate from politics. Conceptually unclear anti-political strategy discourse is often needed to hide ideological differences, to permit enrolment and compromise of different interests and agency distribution. The concept of anti-politics in the Bovine Mystique as depicted by Ferguson shows how apolitical, technical interventions and the associated development discourse lead to development projects failure. Subsequently, theses failed projects do not achieve their own set objectives. Yet instead of meeting their set objectives, the projects lead to the development of instrumental effects i.e. side effects which tend to act as an anti-politics machine. Therefore, the instrument effects depoliticize everything while removing all political connections. Nevertheless, the instruments slowly but gradually and un noticed by a lot of people lead to the expansion of bureaucratic state power. This is implied when Ferguson (252) says that although the project failed, a lot of government services were made available to the region. The Thaba Tseka center was transformed into a capital of the new district. Also, the government used the area as a military post by stationing a paramilitary unit in the region. All these developments enhanced government control. The anti-politics project conceptualization is generally a technocratic one since it implies that development agencies are not allowed to mingle or involve themselves with politics. Ferguson explores the eminent cultural barriers that tended to affect the project’s success. As such, he provides an antropolistic view. Whereas the project administrators believed that the local people due to traditions did not treat their livestock as commodities for sale, Ferguson researched and thus succinctly explained their behaviours. The Basotho culture reserved some animal types for men only while others were reserved for women. Cattle were reserved for men alone. Therefore, the reluctance to sell their animals stemmed from the fact that cash would easily be misused. When the Thaba – Tseka project completed building the roads, there was an increase in imports instead of exports. This was contrary to the project objectives. Due to anti politics machine, the project failed. The project administrators had underestimated the objectives of the Lesotho government. This is a weakness of the concept since the lack of politics acknowledgment led to the project’s failure. Conversely, the concept had its strengths. Government services were brought closer to the people. For example, a police station, a post office and availability of health officials who otherwise would be situated in distant districts (p. 252-253). The anti-politics machine concept has a weakness since it implies that the expansion of state bureaucratic power often leads to project failure. Ferguson therefore fails to directly link this concept to the effect it has on the poor. Also, the privatization of land does not lead to the corresponding loss for the poor. Development workers of the project decided to employ the accumulation by dispossession concept by privatizing land so that a small percentage of people would be able to feed the western breed cows. This was strength since the cows could not survive in the harsh Lesotho climate without good pasture. Sharing of the fields always led to poor grass management. Also, the improved cattle were put in the hands of a few local people since not all people could manage them. However, privatization of the pasture lands deprives the community off grazing lands which can lead to an increase in poverty. Prior to the project, pasture was held collectively in Lesotho. The development workers embarked on an exercise of fencing the commons so as to restrict the vast majority of people from utilizing their land. This act was not taken well by the local population who tore down the fences. The anti-politics machine and accumulation by dispossession concepts reject modernity as an enough way to poverty elimination. The project’s failure can thus be attributed to the fact that they overlooked the political factors or elements that could affect the project. Therefore, it is a weakness to assume that politics does not influence the outcome of the project. Political factors have to be included while planning for the project. Generally, deregulation and privatization form part of the anti-political machine. The state extends its control to define property that will enable for deregulation and privatization. Unlike the 1975 world bank report that Ferguson analyzed, donors since the 1990’s have made it necessary to request or demand for the recipient country’s political reforms. These political reforms include privatization and deregulation. On the other hand, other people tend to appreciate the new road networks and closer cattle markets hence view the bureaucratic burden as a far lesser evil. Additionally, privatization of land leads to better grass management. A development project is not supposed to intervene in the nation’s social policies but rather build the road network and other facilities. As such, the anti-politics concept illustrates that development institutions can only understand problems and issues that can be solved through adoption of a development project. Thus, the anti-politics machine is a clear rejection of development. Conversely, development mainly occurs within a state’s institutional setting. References Ferguson, J. (1990). The anti-politics machine:" development," depoliticization, and bureaucratic power in Lesotho. CUP Archive. Read More