Globalization and the “New
Social Order”
Revolution and the promotion of
“Democracy”
Guatemala 1944-1954
• Stopped by a U.S. lead coup
• Population coerced into living under
a wave of despotic regimes
Nicaragua: 1979-• Internal forces; mistakes, arrogance,
inexperience, etc
• External forces: low-intensity war;
surrogate army, destroying symbols
of the revolution
U.S. foreign policy: authoritarian
regimes and “democratic”
regimes
Globalization, the world system, and
‘democracy promotion” in U.S. foreign
policy” (Robinson, 1996)
– within a process of transnationalism in the age of the
global economy.
– “coercive domination to consensual model of social
control”
– Massive expansion of international capital under
U.S leadership
– achieving order and security for U.S global
interests”
Why?
• Under new conditions of global capitalism a
new type of social order develops
• Authoritarian regimes are obstacles
economic and information flows
• Generates new pressures and new actors for
political change
“Social interaction and economic integration on
a world scale are obstructed by authoritarian or
dictatorial political arrangements” (635).
institutional constrains on
effective opposition to the social
order
From authoritarianism to the
active promotion of ‘democracy”
• 1980s and 90’s creation of new apparatus
for implementing “democracy”
• Polyarchy:“refers to a system in which a
small group actually rules and mass
participation in decision-making is
confined to leadership choice in elections
carefully managed by competing elites”.
“The purpose of promoting polyarchy is to remove
dictatorship and to pre-empt more fund amental
change” (626).
Gramscian Hegemony
• Coercive domination and consensual
domination
• “Hegemony as a social relation binds
together a “block” of diverse classes and
groups under circumstances of
consensual domination” (628).
“Hegemony is not simply
something that happens as a
mere superstuctural derivative
of economic structures. ...it
happens through a multiplicity
of “superstructural” agencies
and instances”
‘post-modern global culture
and global consumption
pattern” Culture-ideology of
consumerism
“In short, by redefining the
economic terms of North-South
relations, globalization also
redefined the political terms of
these relations” (622)
How is the Sandinista regime (its
accomplishments and legacy) an
obstacle to global capitalism?
http://marcus.whitman.edu/~bl
oomqcm/
“This is another way of restoring
the values of the past with
vengeance. (Ramirez Mercado in
Adios Muchachos 1999: 44)
Latin America is a slave economy
masquerading as post-modern: it
pays African wages, it charges
European prices, and the
merchandise it produces most
efficiently is injustice and
violence (Galeano 1998: 29).
Creating the conditions for major
changes
• Elimination of revolutionary gains as
obstacles for industrial development
• Paving the way for profound changes
• This changes had a lot to do with global
politics of neoliberalism: structural
adjustment
Structural adjustment
• Structural Adjustment Policies are
economic policies which countries must
follow in order to qualify for new World
Bank and International Monetary Fund
(IMF) loans and help them make debt
repayments on the older debts owed to
commercial banks, governments and the
World Bank.
SAPs generally require
countries to devalue their
currencies against the dollar;
lift import and export
restrictions; balance their
budgets and not overspend;
and remove price controls and
state subsidies.
SAPs are aimed at:
• To restore economic stability through
privatization,
• Restructuring of the banking system: credit
restriction
• Restructuring of government institutions
What does it mean for people?
• Higher prices for basic necessities:
electricity and water
• Relaxation of labour codes: less control,
less reinforcement
• Deterioration of families, human rights, etc
Latin America is a slave economy
masquerading as post-modern: it
pays African wages, it charges
European prices, and the
merchandise it produces most
efficiently is injustice and
violence (Galeano 1998: 29).
Revolutionary gains
• Agrarian reform:
--land distribution
--accessibility to credit
--education
Worker’s rights
• Bargaining power strengthen
• Labor laws
• More workers organized
Women’s rights
•
•
•
•
Legal framework
Practical terms: maternity leave
Education
Creation of organizations
Establishment of democratic
institutions
• Creation of CSE
• Creation of national assembly
• First elections: 1984
Healthcare
•
•
•
•
Universal medicare
Health brigades,
Health education
Rural access
Healthcare
•
•
•
•
Universal medicare
Health brigades,
Health education
Rural access
Education
•
•
•
•
Public education
Literacy campaign
Continuing education
6% for universities
National identity
•
•
•
•
Sense of independence
Sense of possibilities
Control of destiny
Flexibility in diplomatic relations
Impact of reversal of Sandinista’s
gains
• Government control lifted:
• Abundance of food but no one can afford it
• From collective solidarity to ruthless
individualism
Reasons behind structural
adjustments
• . USA interest in eliminating government
obstacles to trade
• 2. -Promote reforms to political and military
institutions to their liking
• 3. Encourage Central American economic
and political integration under North
American Dominance
Economic consequences
•
•
•
•
•
Agrarian reform dismantled
Education; major changes
Health care: privatize
Women’s rights: under threat
National identity: becomes under the
influence of USA policies
• Labor issues: situation as bad as in
Somoza’s time
***
• Why put so much effort into erasing traces
of the revolution and on transforming the
urban landscape? Why spend so much
money in erecting gleaming monuments
after so many deaths?
Reasons
• The images, and symbols of the revolution
contrary to the ideals of rampant capitalism
• Sandinistas still a threat to the “new social
order”
• A new physical and ideological landscape
needed to be constructed.
PPP
•
•
•
•
•
Plan Puebla Panama
64 million people
Eight countries
Infrastructure, development and jobs
Maquila assembly factories