Neoliberalism & Notion of Exploitation

Neoliberalism & Notion of Exploitation Neoliberalism and the Exploitation of Social Space, Labor Time and the Individual The economic development of the world's societies today mirrors the political ideologies that have emerged dominant at specific periods in the history of human societies. The emergence of neoliberalism as one of the strong economic forces in the world, from the late 20th century to the present time, demonstrates the inevitable and interdependent link between economics and politics influencing the social structure and dynamics of society.

As an emergent and eventually, dominant approach to economic policy-making, neoliberalism thrived on the following key conditions, distinguishing it from liberal economics that became popular in the early 1900s: (i) highly encourages free enterprise not only domestically, but most critically, internationally; (ii) reduction of social services to reduce government expenditures; (iii) deregulation, especially for large industries; (iv) privatization not only of organizations and industries, but also of public / social services; and (v) dissolution of the public sphere or the community (Martinez & Garcia, 2000).

These economic conditions promoted under neoliberalism are stated as such -- that is, with corresponding adverse economic and social effects -- because the discussion that follows assume a negative stance towards neoliberalism as the economic approach best suited for the economic forces and actors for the 20th to 21st centuries. This paper posits that neoliberalism, rather than promoting economic and social freedom to societies today, has instead further promoted both economic and social suppression and immobility in most societies today.

Under neoliberalism, there is further exploitation of the working class or laborers and the owners of the means of production (technology owners) remain the sole movers and determiners of economic development in most countries. Further, this continued exploitation of the working class is demonstrated through changes in the following critical elements to economic societies of the contemporary period: social space, labor time, and the individual (specifically, the market situation of the individual).

Space, labor and the individual are considered important elements that characterized social changes and develop ever since the capitalist market was established and has flourished. Inherent in capitalism are changes in social space, labor time, and market situation of the individual, as determined and discussed by the proponent of the critical theory, Karl Marx. In this paper's discussion, these elements will be used in determining the disadvantages and criticizing the economic philosophy and practices of neoliberalism.

Specifically, these elements are identified as contributing to the 'tradition' of exploitation that continuously reinforces and reinvents itself in every major economic changes in history, from being a feudal / agricultural economy, to being a capitalist one, and currently, a neoliberalist / international economy. This discussion of neoliberalism and the notion of exploitation as reflected in changes in social space, labor time and market situation of the individual is divided into three parts.

The discussion shall focus on the three elements, social space, labor time and market situation of the individual, with each section identifying the role of each element in perpetuating the exploitation of the working class and continued dominance of the owners / controllers of the means of production under the neoliberalist economy. Highly stratified social space The economic conditions wherein neoliberalism thrives created an economic society that is highly stratified in terms of class condition.

Harman (2007) provided a contemporary analysis of neoliberalism by looking at the effects of financial institutionalism to the society, thereby resulting to the emergence of a new kind of class stratification. The rise of financial institutionalism, according to Harman, gave power more to the executives, leaders and managers of these institutions than the shareholders who have greater stake and ownership of these institutions combined, and also represent society because of the public nature of their role in these institutions.

Leadership in these financial institutions (like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank) contributes to class stratification because the leaders' and managers' self-interests precede the interests of the majority. Unfortunately, the greater power given to these leaders and managers and the lack of unity among shareholders diminish the capability of the latter to participate significantly to decision-making. Thus, an internal stratification is formed, wherein an 'illusion' of power is given to shareholders while the leaders and managers of these institutions steer the wheels of financial funding internally.

Indeed, it is in the pursuit of self-interest and promotion of individualism that neoliberalism further empowers the owners/controllers of the means of production, while the working class remains oppressed and without realizing their strength when united, also remains isolated from each other and from society. Neoliberalism open itself to greater and freer market and trade opportunities, however, these opportunities are only exploited and enjoyed by the very few. These few individuals and groups inevitable determine the economic directions of their respective economies and societies.

Economies under the neoliberalist approach, in fact, have not progressed too far from the challenges and problems that emerged with the establishment of capitalism. If anything, these problems further intensified in that they were institutionalized and expanded to include other societies or countries as well. Harman's example of institutionalized power given to financial executives and leaders demonstrate the institutionalism and legalization of class stratification. Thus, from the liberal to neoliberal approach, class stratification widened and became strongly immobile.

The 'tradition' of exploitation that is apparent in this characteristic of the neoliberalist economy is the persistence of class stratification in the society and economy. As power is strengthened and vested on the executives and leaders of formal institutions established to steer the strategic directions of a country or region's economy, society, represented by the shareholders, are given lesser power and capabilities to influence decision-making in these institutions. As a result, the self-interests of the dominant few are recognized and acted upon, while the voices of the many remain unheard.

Contributing to the immobilization, widening and worsening of the class condition under the neoliberalist approach is the lack of government intervention in these institutions. The absence of protectionism deemed the people powerless, as the dominant few assert the principles of free market and enterprise as being free from any influence of any government. Thus, with no other institution protecting or voicing out the interests of the many, exploitation is perpetuated as social space widened and became immobile in favor of the elite or technology-owning class.

Maximized labor time Neoliberalism also changed the concept of labor time as perceived by the technology owners (i.e., owners/controllers of the means of production) and implemented for the workers. In neoliberalism, both privatization and globalization are inherently implemented to achieve a wider and international scale of free trade and enterprise.

However, with the prevalence of privatization and globalization came the dilemma of workers as labor hours are stretched to accommodate global needs and demands and more participants in the international free market got involved in meeting these production demands. Privatization transformed labor time as a form of exploitation for the workers because of "contract maximalisation" [sic], an aspect of neoliberalism that allows corporations to engage in several transactions with different contractors or suppliers of goods or services (Treanor, 2007).

This presents a window of opportunity for business owners to earn more profit and indirectly, exploit more workers through contract conditions. Business owners would engage the services of a supplier for a limited period of time, renewable on a specified date, either in months' or in a year's time. The possibility that their contracts will not be renewed due to high cost (mainly) or non-performance creates a highly-competitive environment among suppliers.

Thus, the competition would be based on the supplier who can produce the same or greater volume of goods or level/amount of services with the lowest price. As a result, suppliers will try to break even or even profit from the engagement by making its workers work longer hours and extend operations up to 24 hours every day (24/7 operations). In some companies, workers are forced to extend or work longer hours without any additional compensation or increase in salary.

But because of stiff competition among workers -- that is, for fear that they might lose their only source of income -- workers are then unwillingly put in a cycle of exploitation where the company owners and corporations are the ones reaping the benefits of maximized, higher scale operations. Globalization also further intensified the level of competitiveness among workers, and therefore increased the opportunities for exploitation of workers in terms of labor time.

Since most countries have opened their markets to other economies and foreign investors, there are more options for investors/business owners to choose from, particularly in selecting the cheapest labor market among all prospective economies / countries. What happens then is an "all or nothing" situation, and the benefits of new investment coming into an economy will go to the county with the lowest or cheapest labor wage.

Take the example of Vietnam and China, former socialist societies who recently opened their economies to foreign investors and are now enjoying the benefits of a free market. Compared to their other Asian competitors, Vietnam and China have significantly lower wages compared to, for example, Thailand, Malaysia or the Philippines. As a result, to not totally lose out to Vietnam and China, other countries are competing by extending their operations 24/7 without further adjustments to the current government-mandated wages of their workers.

Competition remains, as Vietnam and China can deliver like the other countries, but with significantly lower wages. Looking at the bottom line, only the workers suffer and are greatly exploited as a result of this competition among Asian countries, as investors pursue the country with the cheapest source of labor.

The individual's (worker's) market-class situation It is inevitable, then, that with the widening and increased immobility of social space and maximized labor time inherent in neoliberalist economies, that the individual is given no choice but to assume an individualist stance and fiercely compete in order to survive the new socio-economic environment s/he lives in.

Bourdieu (1998) criticized neoliberalism because of these inherent forms of exploitation, resulting to the alienation of the individual/worker, as s/he competes alone and against his/her own community / society: …the immediately visible effects of the implementation of the great neoliberal utopia… First is the destruction of all the collective institutions… primarily those of the state, repository of all the universal values associated with the idea of public realm [sic].

Second is the imposition everywhere…of that sort of moral Darwinism that, with the cult of the winner…institutes the struggle of all against all and cynicism [sic] as the norm of all action and behavior. Because the individual develops the psyche of being highly competitive and assuming the attitude of "all against all," the power of the society is highly reduced, as society acts as divided, individual agents in pursuit of their own, rather than unified, interests.

The lack of unity or collectivist nature of societies under a neoliberalist economy brings more power to the leading and dominant few. As a result, economies are dictated and determined only among these small group of individuals / decision-makers, ultimately serving their own agenda and interests. In the realm of neoliberal economy, the worker as an individual and member of the society loses his/her role and significance, and becomes an instrument and mere contributor rather than significant mover of the.