Lecture 7 - After Neoliberalism Flashcards
1900 - how many people had lived in urban cities
20%
2050 - how many people had lived in urban cities
70%
Quote on the city
‘In making the city man has remade
himself.’ (Park, 1967)
How do banks make better use of capital
They finance globalisation in multiple locations - these are often cities where profit making opportunities can be found
London as an example for investment in the city
London a magnet for property investment from places such as the Middle East and Russia (like to invest their capital) – as a result property prices increase
Transforming the landscape – new development projects in London (outskirts)
What often moves from rural areas to cities within the economy
Surpluses of capital and (often rural) labour
What is expanded due to urbanisation
A global-scale credit system. In turn debt-holding workers and even governments are less likely to resist demands by capital owners
In what countries especially does urbanisation happen
Developing countries
What do cities want to do with mass capital
Invest it in cities in the hope of generating more profits
What is urban growth necessary for
The reproduction of the global system of capitalism
Where do homeless people often move
To the city
Questions around urbanisation
Is it possible for the majority of participants to benefit (even development)
What areas have a higher level of child poverty (%)
Bigger cities
What do bigger cities have a higher % of
Child poverty
Canada and poverty
Considered to be developed but they have high levels of poverty
How child poverty is worsening in the UK
Benefits are being reduced by the state in major UK cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester
Harvey quote on poverty
'There is an inherent class bias in the way in which spaces in the city are allocated. Why should we accept a system where the people who move on are the most vulnerable and the people who stay wherever they like are the one-‐ percenters?”'
Who stated: ‘there is an inherent class bias in the way in which spaces in the city are allocated’
Harvey, 2012
New York poverty
2nd largest financial status in the world below London – yet there is 50% population living in near poverty?
Why does New York have such high near poverty levels
Unequal distribution of income and wealth as the city develops (fast developing)
How can the government make the poverty levels worse
Government can take high value land from the vulnerable and compensate them whenever they want
Issue with the market system on poverty
Market system allows people who have money to have control over the land, people with less money have very little control
Strategy to manage issues associated with poverty and how they live
‘Right to the City’
Cities and desires
Humans create cities according to their desires, however they should be made to the desires of the majority (not individuals)
Objective of the ‘Right to the City’ movement
To avoid being ‘condemned’ to live in urban conditions not of one’s choosing
Who first suggested the ‘right to the city’ movement
Social theorist Henri Lefebvre
Harvey on the limitations of a city
‘The right to the city is too narrowly confined, restricted in most cases to a small political and economic elite’
Example of one person impacting a large amount of area/people
Donald Trump – power to alter legislation (president) and is a large land owner – small political and economic elite
Questions on a different ‘right to the city’
Is it possible to turn urbanisation from a precondition of profit maximisation (for a global elite minority such as financiers & real estate developers) to a precondition of social equity?
Link between equity and happiness
People that live in places that are more equitable are happier – e.g. Denmark (60% taxation rate of income is highest – redistribution of this money to the people who need it and public services); the public appreciate this system (reintroduce this to the UK?)
Issue with movements calling for new rights
- Tend to be sporadic + reactive
- Political representation tend to be fragmented
How to change the current system
Need people to challenge the current systems – yet these people have a poor political representation
Example of people fighting for the minority
Protests against university fees
What % of the population fo policies benefit
1%
Neo-liberalism
Withdrawal of the state causes inequalities – market forces only (not equal)
Focus on short term projects?
Neoliberalist blueprint
People from other countries should be allowed to invest here freely without limitations
Freedom of movement is essential – Brexit doesn’t want this within the EU
Re‐evaluate established economic vocabulary: free choice
Freedom to choose, not freedom to consume/access
Re-evaluate established economic vocabulary: customer
No longer a person, only an entity with (perceived) buying power
Re-evaluate established economic vocabulary: self interest
A‐social, individual gain above all
What did Massey drive
A programme launched 8 years ago to challenge the common sense of neo-liberalism
Who launched a programme 9 years ago to challenge the common sense of Neo-liberalism
Massey
Why a ‘softer’ approach might work
- Neoliberal hegemony is never fully secure
- Politicians constantly feel the need to assuage the public the current system is ‘fair’
- Even within the capital‐owning class, conflicts arise
