Globalisation and Democracy: Challenges and Shifts in Modern Politics

1. Globalisation and Democracy

2. Structure and Objectives of the Lecture • Section One: Assess the extent to which ‘de- politicisation’ in response to changes in global economic structures undermines poplar democracy. • Section Two: Brief analyse of evolving meaning of citizenship in liberal democracy

3. Section Three:Evaluate the extent to which a shift from a politics of ‘becoming’ to a politics of being is taken place and to explore the implications of such a shift.

4. Section One • In attempt to offer certainty to market actors remove key aspects of economic policy from democratic control • Central Bank Independence, Independent Financial Regulators and a more general regulatory framework dominated by independent agencies • Furthermore, policy is constrained by commitments to supranational organisations

5. Add to the mix the effects of sub-contracting and public-private initiatives and we could argue that majority key decisions of social/economic management are outside effective control of central government. • Reforms are designed to redefine contentious political tasks as apolitical technical tasks • When we vote for a government what do we actually vote for?

6. UK Outside government control: Industrial policy, monetary policy, trade policy, regulatory policy and the basic structure of social policy/ infrastructure provision. • So we vote over whether we want slightly lower taxes or slightly higher spending on health and education.

7. This is a problem? It depends on your perspective • How different it from before? Depends on country and point of comparison.

8. Section Two • Kanishka Jaysurayia • What it means to be citizen in Liberal Democracy changing in response to globalisation • Stripping of Economic and Social Content of citizenship and substantive freedoms • Individual autonomy is equated with capacity to freedom to participate in the market

9. Kanishka Jaysurayia analysis can be linked to Cox work on polarisation and even some statements by arch-capitalist like Warren Buffet • Severe inequality poses a treat to democratic political life

10. The market is not conceived of a structure of power from which individual ought to enjoy certain freedoms • Shift in the citizenship frontier • These ideas can be linked to Cox’s work on polarisation….

11. Section Three • Politics of Becoming: Liberalism and Marxism. Universal Projects of Realisation. Future Perfect. Not confined to particular sections of society • Politics of Being: Politics of Identity in one form of another. Your politics become defined by membership of particular group and become concerned with that groups struggle.

12. Harvey argues in response to space-time compression individuals look for fixed representations of community to belong to. Thus place and identity dominants over project of becoming • Also we can argue the decline in mainstream notions of social-economic citizenship creates environment were politics of being can flourish

13. Section Three • How do we define place and Identity? All acts of definition involve a act of imaging. All acts of understanding place are aseathic ised How do we understand ‘the city’ a mass of realities and interactions Through the consumption of asethicised images

14. My favourite city is New York….. • My understanding of the City has been shaped by….

17. Someone else may understand the city in a very different way. Another example is London. For me London is….

19. For someone else it may be………..

20. The city has so many realities as to lack a objective reality • Equally identities are so complex. What is blackness? • Movements create aestheticised ideas and counter ideas

22. In a sense ‘politics of being’ is about defining and selling a particular notion of identity/place (as opposed to becoming). There is a left and right wing version of politics of being. Although both are in some ways reactionary (as they look to the past). Also emphasis on individual charisma

23. A localised example

24. Regan and Americanism • Politics of Image and Representation of particular myth of America… • Also politics of personal image

25. The same can be said about Thatcher. Britain and Power representation….. • John Major: Warm beer, cricket and nuns on bicycles

27. Blair. A young country………

28. Brown’s Britishness and Cameroon's Trainers

29. Not just UK

30. V Open to Extreme Right Wing Manipulation

31. Politicised Religion

32. Left Wing Version…..

34. Also Gay Rights etc….

35. A similar obsession with place (identity) can be seem in the evolution of cultural forms….. • Compare Place in Jazz (50s, 60s) and Hip-Hop (90s, 00s). Hip-hop marked obsession with highly localised sense of place…..

39. Problems with identity politics • Many forms obviously pathological (Yugoslavia, Bin Laden) • Mainstream aestheticism, always dangers of racism and reaction. • Intrinsic Limitations even in progressive forms (Gay and Racial Rights)….. Never be ultimately be about universal emancipation Also tends to produce pathologies

40. Large sections of Black Nationalist movement are anti-semantic, homophobic and sexist • “Cause a Black hand Squeezed on Malcolm X the man” (Public Enemy)

41. Images movements create can themselves become repressive…

42. Human Emancipation ultimately requires a politics of becoming (a universal vision of emancipation). At best victories of identity politics are likely to be partial.

43. Conclusion • Our understanding of the significance of processes of de-politicisation and citizenship is critically dependant on our understanding of democracy • For scholars such as Schumpeter and Weber this is no need for alarm • However for social-democratic theorists (proponents) of democracy changes in scope of democratic control and citizenship are far more damaging

44. I think it more difficult for anyone to be entirely comfortable with the rise of identity politics. Although clearer some forms have had progressive effects • Backward Linkages: State, Harvey • Forward: Labour, Welfare