Crisis of liberalism
Crisis of Liberalism is commonly referred to the inability of a liberal ideology to protect fundamental human rights and provide sustainable economic growth; It is also seen as a decrease in electoral trust to liberal parties and, as a consequence, an increasing influence of radical and far-right parties in the 21st century.[1][2]
The term itself became prevalent in politics since the early 2000s and was primarily viewed as the pattern consisting of three parts. The first one has political implications and refers to the crisis of the growing gap between classic liberal thought and political practice of traditionally liberal countries (the most common example of which is the “Trumpism”).[3]
The second part is an economic one. It refers to the expanding discrepancy between the massive productive capacity of the global economic system and the limited demand for the commodities produced by this system. One of the indicators of the deepening crisis is the escalating competition among world capitalist elites, overaccumulation and overproduction, as well as unprecedented number of financial crises in the last fifty years.[4][5]
The third part has global manifestation and it is the crisis of legitimacy and credibility of global hegemony.[6] Berthold Beitz Professor John Gerard Ruggie in the book Multilateralism Matters: The Theory and Praxis of an International Order said that "US wish to transform the multilateral world order into a pan-American model again pursuing its interests through international institutions (e.g. WTO, IMF, and the World Bank)."[7]
Political aspect[edit]
In 2001 author Larry Diamond said that different illiberal forces have now been legitimated through the existing democratic institutions claimed to be based on the foundations of the liberalism.[1][2] According to Freedom House, 2016 has already experienced the success of the Brexit campaign, the phenomenon of Donald Trump, and a new Philippine president who openly supports extrajudicial killings. According to Freedom House, a decade-long support for radical ideas in Western polyarchies caused a steady diminution in global freedom.[8]
In the digital age of democracy, liberal openness falls into insecurity state due to irresponsible use of ICT. In one way, innovations are able to lead to democracy, that will result in public control; on the contrary, they may lead to authoritarian manipulation of information in different areas of social life.[9]
Untruthful reporting, hacking the private data of politicians and parties - these methods are gaining popularity, especially from the perspective of 2017 parliamentary elections in France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands as well as an important presidential campaign in France.[9]
Shattered liberalism in the West reflected in attitudes of different political groups in other regions. This has already happened in some of the regions in Eastern and Central Europe. In the circumstances of fear and insecurity societies seek answers in the comfort zone of traditional identities and fundamentalism.[9]
Economic impact[edit]
In the modern era, a liberal economy is stemming from the sudden deregulation of the financial sectors and the decisions to not maintain treasury banking practices.[10] Such processes led to the emergence of major issues regarding economic inequality, and financial instability.[11]
David A. Westbrook in his article for Cultural Anthropology claimed that it also means that the social trust and social cohesion are eroding.[12] If trust is too low in a society, people lose confidence in their institutions, state, and government as the legal systems that guarantee the rights. This symptom of political ailment brings the more unstable, heavy-handed, and turbulent situations.[4]
The financial globalization is seen as a major factor that contributes to the flowing crisis. Its key elements are:[13]
● The tremendous increase of the financial assets of individuals and large corporations across the globe. It is an outcome of the enlargement of financial instruments supported by securitization and derivatives;
● The real and financial economy performing with the savage formation of fictitious financial statuses helping capitalists to gain significant amounts of revenue without investment into society's goals;
● The main growth in the profit rates of financial sectors, and mostly the ability to grant bonus payments to the financial traders for the ability to increase capitalist rent.[13]
Since most of the countries undertook financial liberalization, there has been a marked increase in the frequency of crises. From 1945 to 1971 the world has experienced a number of serious crises; to be precise, thirty-eight financial crises. The frequency has greatly increased since 1973. The world experienced 139 financial crises between 1973 and 1997, this number is 3.5 times greater than the number of crises that occurred in the post-WWII period.[14]
Consequences[edit]
Europe[edit]
Nowadays Europe faces the growing strength of the right-wing parties which represent themselves with a discourse composed of civilizational and economic protectionism.[15] One of the key factors for these movements and parties is migration from outside and within the EU. There have been several anti-immigration policies in EU countries. For the sake of preservation of Christian identity, some member states (such as Hungary, Austria and Poland) peremptorily rejected the allocation of refugees from Syria.[16]
The growth of the nationalist right in the EU was accelerated by the global crisis that began in 2007-2008. According to the Glyn Morgan, Associate Professor of Political Science in University of California in Denmark, Belgium and Finland, they are either part of the governing coalition or support without being directly part of the government.[16] In the Liberalism, nationalism, and post-Brexit Europe essay he says that in many other EU countries, right-wing parties have emerged stronger from recent elections. Most of the today’s right parties do not question parliamentary pluralism. "However, those nationalist-wing forces that govern alone – like Hungarian “Fidesz” or Polish “Prawo i Sprawiedliwość” – have affected the separation of powers and have tried to take tighter control of the mass media and judiciary."[16]
Noteworthy are also the cases of the Slovak “Sloboda a Solidarita”, Czech “Občanská demokratická strana”, UKIP, “Alternative für Deutschland”, and “Lega Nord” that are compatible with strong anxiety against migrants as well as national-conservative ideas. At the same time, faragism raises its head. Faragist political parties in EU have increased their anti-EU rhetoric and hope to take their countries away through the same exit door as Britain.[17]
In 2016 German professor Dr. Thomas Greven in his comparative research for Friedrich Ebert Stiftung claimed that the French political movement “Front National” which is now established as France’s third-strongest political party had an extremist, anti-Semitic message for decades. Austria’s “Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs” is also a remarkable example for institutionalizing populists’ extremism: the FPÖ’s candidate, Norbert Hofer, gained a plurality of the vote (35.3%) in the first round of presidential elections in 2016.[18]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Polanyi, Karl. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (2001 ed.). Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 080705643X. Search this book on
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Diamond, Larry (2001). Is Pakistan the (Reverse) Wave of the Future? (2001 ed.). Balrimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9780801868429. Search this book on
- ↑ Mounck, Y. "Trumpism: A new era in world politics". Project Syndicate. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dempsey, Judy. "Judy Asks: Is the Crisis of the Liberal Order Exaggerated?". Carnegie Europe.
- ↑ Bresser-Pereira, Luiz Carlos. "The 2008 financial crisis and neoclassical economics". Revista de Economia Política. doi:10.1590/S0101-31572010000100001.
- ↑ Walden, Bello (2008). Lechini, Gladys, ed. En publicación: Globalization and the Washington Consensus: its influence on democracy and development in the south (PDF). Buenos Aires: CLACSO, Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales. ISBN 978-987-1183-91-3. Search this book on
- ↑ Ruggie, John (1993). "Multilateralism: The Anatomy of an Institution". Multilateralism Matters: The Theory and Praxis of an International Order. New York: Columbia University Press.
- ↑ "Freedom in the World 2017. Populists and Autocrats: The Dual Threat to Global Democracy". Freedom House.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Rorty, Richard (2004-04-01). "Post-Democracy". Post-Democracy. pp. 10–11. ISBN 1859845789. ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
- ↑ Bordo, Michael; Eichengreen, Barry; Klingebiel, Daniela; Martinez-Peria, Maria Soledad; Rose, Andrew K. (2001-01-01). "Is the Crisis Problem Growing More Severe?". Economic Policy. 16 (32): 53–82.
- ↑ Minoves-Triquell, Juli. "The World Economic Crisis" (PDF). Liberal International.
- ↑ Westbrook, David A. (27 October 2016). "Losing Our Manners: The Current Crisis and Possible Durability of Liberal Discourse". Cultural Anthropology. ISSN 0886-7356.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Bourguinat, Henri; Briys, Éric. L'arrogance de la finance. Comment la théorie financière a produit le krach. ISBN 9782707157195. Search this book on
- ↑ Bresser-Pereira, Luiz Carlos (2010-03-01). "The 2008 financial crisis and neoclassical economics". Revista de Economia Política. 30 (1): 03–26. doi:10.1590/S0101-31572010000100001. ISSN 0101-3157.
- ↑ Pearce, Gregor Aisch, Adam; Rousseau, Bryant (2016-05-22). "How Far Is Europe Swinging to the Right?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Morgan, Glyn. "Liberalism, nationalism, and post-Brexit Europe". Biblioteca della libertà. ISSN 2035-5866.
- ↑ Beauchamp, Zack (2016-06-23). "Brexit isn't about economics. It's about xenophobia". Vox. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
- ↑ Greven, Thomas (May 2016). "The Rise of Right-wing Populism in Europe and the United States. A Comparative Perspective" (PDF). Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) – Foundation for Social Democracy.
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