AN100 Neoliberalism quiz

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Wilfrid Laurier University *

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100

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Anthropology

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Apr 3, 2024

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pdf

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Uploaded by MasterField13930

Readings/Videos ● Chapter 8: Globalization, Neoliberalism, and the Nation-State in Sociocultural Anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach ● Pros and Cons of Neoliberalism. (2:59 minutes) ● The term was popularized in the 80s by ronald regan, margerate thatture and milton freedman ● ● The “Cost” of Globalization (4:12 minutes) ● Iphone 147 steps ● Foxconn 1.78cents/hour ● Indigenous Americans and Globalization I World History Project. (4:28 minutes) ● 1903 ● Globalization and Culture (6:28 minutes) Learning Outcomes By the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. Define the function and evolution of nation-states. 2. Clarify the distinction between ‘nation’ and ‘nation-states”. 3. Unpack the term “globalization” 4. Explain the relationship between globalization, colonialism and neocolonialism. 5. Talk about the potential impact of globalization and colonialism on local cultures. 6. Define neoliberalism. 7. Discuss how the nation building in Canada was inextricably linked to the subjugation of Indigenous peoples and racialized people. Key Terms Globalization

“The intensification of worldwide social relations that link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away, and vice versa (Robbins et al. 2017, 222). Neoliberalism An economic philosophy advocating for minimal government intervention in the economy while promoting rapid economic expansion. Neoliberals argue that the optimal path to well-being involves empowering individual entrepreneurs within a framework characterized by strong property rights, free trade and free market (Robbins et al. 2017, 225). Nation-state Responsible for upholding public order, sustaining armed forces, and gathering revenue in the form of tribute or taxes (Robbins et al. 2017, 227). In this lesson we will argue that neoliberalism and globalization impact everyone’s lives, but in different ways. Before you delve deeper into learning more about these phenomena, we invite you to read an excerpt from Liquidated. An Ethnography of Wall Street written by the American anthropologist Karen Ho, who describes her experience conducting ethnography in several investment banks. We hope that her account will demonstrate that the prioritization of profits over people characterizing neoliberal global capitalism translates to various levels of workers’ exploitation, which, in turn, leads to diminished life quality. The extent to which employees are mistreated depends on the strength of the unions, the state and the labor protection laws. What is particularly interesting about Karen Ho’s work is that it was published shortly after the 2008 economic crisis. During this crisis, major American banks were bailed out by the US government to save them from bankruptcy, despite their significant role in causing the downturn. Consequently, many Americans lost their homes through foreclosures, whereas bank CEOs were paid handsome bonuses in spite of the fact that they contributed to the near collapse of the American financial system.

What goes on inside investment banks, and what might they not want “others” to see? I would argue that for many …. investment bankers, the experience of work is akin to what Jill Andresky Fraser calls the “white-collar sweatshop.” The fact that many investments bankers work, off and on, 110-hour weeks, is often disguised (and alleviated) by their business-class airplane seats and five-star hotel stays. … Louis Walters, a white vice president of Facilities and Building Services at Salomon Smith Barney, vividly describes these work environments. As the spatial planner of an investment bank, Walters helped me to understand the geography of workspace and its relationship to how investment banks view their employees and the work they do. About five years or so ago, we densified the operation. We went from every employee had nothing less than a six to-eight position, which was our work module; then we went to a six-by-six to get more people in less space—part of the cost-control thing. I remember walking down this long row of seats that we had crammed together. Six-by-six is not a lot of room, and low partitioned. …I saw this Princeton mug, class of whatever. And, I was thinking about the sort of psychological process of going through what it takes to get into Princeton today, and the work just to get there, and then, having graduated from there, the sense of accomplishment, being part of the one percent… the best of the best, and here he wound up with a six-by-six module, with only room for your little mug. The mug is a sort of a residual reminder that you are someone special. Along with associates, analysts work the longest hours. If analysts work 110+ hours a week (with four to five all-nighters a month), then a typical analyst’s salary of $50,000 amounts to little more than minimum wage… Another Harvard alumnus, a Goldman Sachs analyst who requested anonymity, declared, “For a year you have no personal life. It’s hard enough to do my laundry.” His worst work week lasted 155 hours, leaving him with just 13 hours to sleep. Many investment bankers candidly informed me that Wall Street deliberately recruits college graduates straight out of the gate…in order to pick the most eager, fresh-faced, driven, young, unattached analysts, so they can be worked to the breaking point. As Sarah Kittery, a vice president at Salomon Smith Barney, casually remarked in passing, “If you’re single, and your

family lives far away, like California, the better analyst you will be.” She described that although most analysts begin the year with a significant other, “all of a sudden” after a few months, everyone starts finding out that they are all single. My initial year on Wall Street working at Bankers Trust (BT) can certainly be characterized as a global seduction. At the various recruiting events I attended as a potential employee…I was bombarded by proclamations and representations of “the global.” Senior investment bankers spoke endlessly about borderless flows of financial capital and finance becoming increasingly “global” as Wall Street investment banks create sophisticated financial products covering new areas and generating new markets, as they enter and dominate the capital markets of various countries. (J. P. Morgan 1995, centerfold) (Ho 2009, 61-70). Ho’s ethnography very effectively demonstrates how the exploitation of the workforce, which is a typical feature of neoliberal global capitalism, affects all workers including those who appear to be on the top of the socio-economic ladder. This adds nuance to the oversimplified picture in which “only” people in the so-called sweatshop belt , which includes China, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and Bangladesh work in very difficult conditions whereas their equivalents in the Global North do not (Nanda and Warms 2018, 357). Sweatshops are “factories where workers, particularly women and children, are employed for long hours under difficult conditions at low pay” (Nanda and Warms 2018, 358). As we will argue in this lesson, neoliberal global capitalism penetrates everyone’s lives, but its impact varies depending on one’s geographic location and socio-economic position. For example, the Wallstreet bankers who graduated from Harvard might be earning a minimum wage, but the American minimum wage differs from that in Bangladeshi. To put it differently, the American financial analysts might be exploited and sleep deprived, but they still have enough money to put food on the table - something that cannot be said for many workers of the Global South. Thus, the state’s position in the world economic system plays a significant role in mitigating the negative effects of globalization. 1. The state is run by specialists, ________ and civil servants that are working in bureaucratic institutions.

Correct answer: Politicians 2. The state governs its population through the ________ and courts of law. Correct answer: Police 3. In return, the state offers to maintain the _____________, provide social assistance to the ill and the unemployed, and protect people against external attacks (Balzani and Bessnier 2021, 426). Correct answer: Infrastructure 4. Before the eighteenth century, European states were governed by kings and _______ who were perceived as having received the right to rule from God. During that time, their subjects’ lives revolved around villages and kinship groups, and did not necessarily identify strongly with a specific nation. Correct answer: Emperors 5. By the end of the eighteenth century, a new idea emerged: rulers should only rule over “the members of the ________ to which they themselves belonged” (Balzani and Bessnier 2021, 426). This concept implied that an overlap between nation and a state was a desirable goal. Correct answer: Nation 6. To address this challenge the central government of European countries turned their attention toward fostering a sense of unity among diverse populations by crafting a common __________ identity and inventing common traditions (Balzani and Bessnier

2021, 438). Correct answer: National 7. Benedict Anderson that from the eighteenth century onwards individuals began to perceive themselves as belonging to a nation . According to Anderson, the crucial aspect was the fact that people had to __________ that they were part of a bigger community of likeminded individuals whom they would probably never meet in person, but whose proximity and affinity they willingly embraced (Kottak 2022, 248). Correct answer: Imagine 8. Nations do not comprise of ________, but of people who share a common language, religion, as well as constructed or mutually accepted symbols, historical narratives, traditions, myths, and ideals (Balzani and Bessnier 2021, 437; Robbins et al. 2017, 234). Correct answer: Institutions Nation-states This concept emerges after the French Revolution and “refers to a group of people sharing a common cultural background and unified by a political structure that they all consider legitimate” (Ferraro and Andreatta 2014,323). In some cases, the state, and the nation overlap (Balzani and Bessnier 2021, 427). However, in most instances, a state has more than one nation living within its territory (Robbins et al. 2017, 227). This can be seen as threatening to those who run the state, especially if the national minorities are attempting to expand their autonomy (Ferraro and Andreatta 2014, 392). Answers:

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