Paste your essay in here…In the following essay the theory of neoliberalism will be dissected in relation to the country of Scotland. This study will explore exactly what it the concept entails, how it came to be, the main figures involved, and apply it to the land of Caledonia to discover its exact effects on the land, and evaluate these changes for better or for worse, and an evaluation will be drawn from the overall research. Neoliberalism is pertained to be the catalyst for Scotland’s immense recent economic growth, “In no more than two decades, Scotland has gone through such profound transformation that, in some important aspects, it is barely recognizable as the same place”, (Davidson et al, 2010, p4).
Neoliberalism is a political-economic philosophy that has had hugely impacted government policies, starting in the 1970s and becoming increasingly relevant from the 1980’s onward. There are four key characteristics to be determined in the neoliberalism model; it gives the government openness to global trade and foreign investments, it cuts social services including education, healthcare, water supply, and so on, it reduces any government regulation that could create a profit and it privatizes all state owned enterprise. According to David Harvey, “Neoliberalism is in the first instance a theory of political economic practices that proposes that human wellbeing can best be advanced by liberating individual entrepreneurial freedoms and skills within an institutional framework characterized by strong private property, free market, and free trade.” Neoliberalism removes emphasis or outright rejects government intervention in the economy and instead focuses on structured free-market methods, with fewer restrictions on business operations. The philosophy also implies that the most important rights to expand are those of property enforcement and of opening a nation to entry by multinational corporations. To expand on this, it is used to describe the movement towards using the market to achieve a wide range of social ends that were previously filled by government. Neoliberalism was not spontaneous; it was speculatively planned and opportunistically built, it had been repeatedly reconstructed in order to fit each ever-changing economy. The fact that it is constantly transforming is important, as political scientist Michael Freeden stresses, “ideologies need ‘interpreting and decoding’, to ‘reconstruct and amplify’ the unarticulated.” (Gilmour, 1993, p24). It’s arguable that because it is so hybrid and able to mutate, that it is also more likely to be contradictory rather than reinforcing. Neoliberalism is a concept that undeniably presents with flaws, philosopher Noam Chomsky pointed out that “The very design of neoliberal principles is a direct attack on democracy.” As many dislike the theory because they see it as hostile to protectionism, social democracy and socialism. Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism
While neoliberalism didn’t come into effect until the 1970’s and the following decades, there is much evidence to prove that the philosophy was theorized much, much earlier. The concept was based upon the research of Scotsman Adam Smith into free market economics. It was in his book “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” which was published in 1776, that Smith explored the effects that any governments intervention would have on an economies growth. As Milton Friedman stated, neoliberalism rests on the ‘elementary proposition that both parties to an economic transaction benefit from it, provided the transaction is bilaterally voluntary and informed’ (Friedman, 1962, p. 55). This liberal thinker presented the theory of the “invisible hand” which is said to be working while focusing toward a better off society – concerning citizens who have an interest in using their resources to increase their own well-being. Competition in markets is also central to the understanding of this theory. Other key figures in the development of Neoliberalism were Friedrich August von Hayek and the previously quoted Milton Friedman.
While it was President Ronald Reagan who introduced Neoliberalism to the United States, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher implemented the theory in the United Kingdom. Economic historians refer to 1945 to 1973 as being the “golden age” of the UK’s economy. The 1970’s were gloomy both economically and socially, and it is easily deemed the greatest time of crisis in the UK since the Second World War, even including the more recent Great Recession. That decade is known as a time in which there was rampant war within industry, a sharp and sudden downturn in the economy, a massive growth in extremism in political life, an overall rise in public and domestic violence, as well as increasing distrust in the government, a spike in IRA activity and upheaval in the North of Ireland. This was an era when both the Labour and the Conservative parties sharply move toward the extremes, seeking immediate relief from the multitude of social and economic issues. When Heath fell as the Tory party leader, the people rallied behind Margaret Thatcher, who separated the parties One-Nation traditions and presented a neoliberal ideology, which was a fresh and welcomed change. Thatcher famously said , “There is no alternative,” which was her pro-neoliberalism slogan during her campaign as Prime Minister. Other leaders prevalent within the UK government in the seventies were men such as Whitelaw, Pam, Carrington, Prior and Walker, who all remained true to their centrist tradition and not removed from their Labour opposition. It was by the 1983 election that firmly established the new neo-liberal order that would be present in the United Kingdom’s government. From 1979 onward, many sectoral shifts were applied under Thatcher; the move of the secondary manufacturing sector away from production of the likes of cars or ships, as well as the immense growth of tertiary services, but overall most of the expansion is seen in finance. Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism Neoliberalism neoliberal neoliberalism
Now that the theory has been explained and explored, this paper will continue by focusing on the change that Neoliberalism brought about in Scotland after its introduction. The transformations are very apparent when scrutinizing areas such as working women in Scotland, and the culture in the Scottish Highlands, specifically it’s employment rates and in its rich culture, such as the Gaelic language.
The significant rise of the number of working women in Scotland occurred in the 1970’s, and is directly related to the neoliberal shift toward a service economy, as well as the higher levels of education and training made available to them. The 1970s also brought about the introduction of many laws that aided this growth; the Sex Discrimination Act of 1974, the Equal Pay Act of 1970 and the Employment Protection Act of 1982. These laws implemented equality measures that had never been seen in the country before, and while they weren’t perfect, they were the incentive that drove so many women to join the work force. Many of the jobs that were created initially centered in the service sector, and tended to be low in prospects and overall low paying “pink collar” jobs which failed to meet standards set for decent work by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Regardless, women were uprooted from old institutions, and were now work in a flexible economy unavailable to them prior. It’s arguable that neoliberalism changed attitudes toward inequality overall, as much analysis of the theory has presented so far.
“One might want to say that the generalization of an ‘‘enterprise form’’ to all forms of conduct – to the conduct of organizations hitherto seen as being non-economic, to the conduct of government and to the conduct of individuals themselves – constitutes the essential characteristic of this [neoliberal] style of government: the promotion of an enterprise culture.” (Burchell, 1996, p28–29). As a member of the United Kingdom, Scotland had also been subject to the government’s ‘‘promotion of an enterprise culture.’’ Neoliberal ideologies and practices by the government also applied minority language planning in Scotland, focusing on the Highlands to the north. A particular language development program was introduced called the “Gaelic in the Community Scheme” or ‘‘Sgeama Ga`idhlig ’s a’Choimhearsnachd.”, which came to be after a 1981 census documented a dramatic drop in Gaelic speakers, and so the scheme was created by the Highlands and Islands Development Board (HIDB). A point of focus for this group was to promote Gaelic through the economic development of areas in which there were Gaelic/English bilinguals. The Western Isles holds the largest population of Scotland, and until then in the last 20th century, it had been chronically underdeveloped and was a major target to boost the economy.
While there are a multitude of ways neoliberalism transformed Scottish society, its impossible to shed light only on the positives and ignore the negatives. The transition phase was not without fault, as in the early 1980’s unemployment reached a post-war peak, though it’s arguable that since the 90’s, Scotland is characterized by the stability of its economy and steady growth, the high numbers of employment, and the strong housing market. From the ashes of the 70’s, a vibrant consumer culture has presented itself purely on the basis of improved disposable income, which previous generations of Scots never could indulge in. But while neoliberalism benefitted many, their situation was overshadowed in history by the thriving majority. Despite this, there is a rise in modern times of people lacking fate in the theory, as it is apparent that its declining influence is the result of the many intellects who are raised against it. In the 70s and 80s the economic debate was dominated by free marketeers, but since the western financial crisis of 2008, the debate has shifted, most obviously in the United States where economists such as Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz and Dani Rodrik are gaining influence.
Overall after critical evaluation of the philosophy of neoliberalism when applied to Scotland, my research has lead in the direction that it is to thank for the dramatic transformation we see in so many aspects of Scotland’s society and economy. To conclude it is undeniable that in modern times, “we live in the age of neoliberalism” (Saad-Filho and Johnston, 2005, p1).