Neoliberalism

Neoliberalism is a reformed version of liberalism, of which Henry Giroux, a prominent critical theorist, broadly describes as a system in which everything is either for sale or is plundered for profit, this, Giroux argues naturalizes capitalist values and reinforces corporate domination (2005). Neoliberalism is defined in Henry Giroux’s 2005 article, titled ‘The terror of Neoliberalism,’ as “a political system in which capital and wealth have been largely distributed upwards, and civic virtue has been undermined by the free market” (2005).

I chose this term due to the critical relationships between neoliberal political systems and transnational migration and displacement. For example, Giroux argues that the environment is polluted and despoiled in the name of profit-making (2005); this degradation of the environment is occurring most frequently in developing countries around the world, this in turn, forces economically disenfranchised people to be displaced from their homes and seeking refuge. In addition, under neoliberalism there has been an increase in low-paid, service sector and factory manufacturing work that relies disproportionately on immigrant women of colour. While women of colour are mainly employed in low-wage devalued occupations, the increasing expansion of those in low-wage sector positions on a global scale has escalated female exploitation and reshaped the economic and labor market.

The term neoliberalism is important in transnational feminist studies because neoliberal economic policies such as the trend towards privatization and the rise of the security state, place the burden on women and as a result their workload has increased. In addition, the reduction of welfare benefits for the impoverished, the cutback of social services and the reliance on market processes have led to an economic crisis and correspondingly an increase in women’s labour. With a decline in publicly-funded support services, women have access to fewer economic and social resources and are forced to increase their own unpaid labor. In this way, neoliberalism has intensified women’s exploitation and oppression

Academic Source: Giroux, H. A. (2004). The terror of neoliberalism. Cultural politics & the promise of democracy.

Keywords: neoliberalism, migration, resource extraction, globalization, oppression

Author: Smiths