DOCSLIB.ORG

The Neoliberal Privatization in Kosovë: a Deconstructed Myth

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Neoliberal Privatization in Kosovë: a Deconstructed Myth Rochester Institute of Technology RIT Scholar Works Theses 2-13-2015 The Neoliberal Privatization in Kosovë: A Deconstructed Myth Edison Jakurti Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.rit.edu/theses Recommended Citation Jakurti, Edison, "The Neoliberal Privatization in Kosovë: A Deconstructed Myth" (2015). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from This Senior Project is brought to you for free and open access by RIT Scholar Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of RIT Scholar Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Student: Edison Jakurti Supervisor: Michele Pomberg Title: The Neoliberal Privatization in Kosovë: A Deconstructed Myth Date of Submission: February 2015 Keywords: 1. Kosovë 2. Privatization 3. Neoliberalism 4. Post and Telecommunications of Kosovo (PTK) 5. Kosovo Electricity Distribution and Supply (KEDS) Submitted to A.U.K. as part of requirement for graduation The Neoliberal Privatization in Kosovë: A Deconstructed Myth Honors Society Project Presented to The Academic Faculty By Edison Jakurti In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Membership in the Honors Society of the American University in Kosovo Acknowledgments I want to thank and acknowledge everyone who has helped me to complete this project. Specifically, I want to thank my professor and my project supervisor, Michele Pomberg, PhD, whose patience and advice have greatly contributed to the improvement and successful completion of this work. Each passing day enforced my belief that choosing Professor Pomberg as my project adviser was the right decision. This work would have not been at this state without the professional advice and motivation by my professor and technical advisor, Mrika Kotorri, PhD. Initially, I expected that her contribution would exercise the dialectics of this work but I came to realize that we had much more common stands than initially thought. And, this helped to further supplement the work. The participation of the interviewees, who are experts in the field, has been crucial to this work. So, I express my appreciation for their willingness to participate and help me enrich this paper. I cannot empathize with but I do sympathize with countless, misfortunate workers whose fate has been tightly linked with their working positions; and, whose working positions and conditions have been drastically affected by the neoliberal privatization all over the world, and especially in developing countries such as Kosovë. I wish this work would not be necessary since there would be no worker affected by the consequences of this phenomenon. But, as an ocular witness, the least I can do is to write about it. And, to hope that the future generations will be much more conscious and careful. Hence, I dedicate this work to all the workers that have been affected by neoliberal privatization. Abbreviations GDP – Gross Domestic Product KEDS – Kosovo Energy Distribution and Supply PAK – Privatization Agency of Kosovo POE – Publicly Owned Enterprises PTK – Post and Telecommunications of Kosovo SOE – Socially Owned Enterprises UNMIK – United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo Abstract This paper describes and analyzes the process of neoliberal privatization in Kosovë, mainly focusing on the privatization of Kosovo Energy Distribution and Supply (KEDS) and the attempt to privatize Post and Telecommunications of Kosovo (PTK). The methodology used to obtain the results includes both primary and secondary data collection. Initially, we examine privatization as a concept and neoliberalism as an ideology that promotes privatization. To contextualize how neoliberal privatization has worked, we look at a brief history of privatization in Kosovë.. We come to the conclusion then that what was promised before privatization was not accomplished once privatization took place, especially in the case of KEDS. Also, the attempt to private PTK depicts both the logic of neoliberal ideology and corruption. Table of Contents Problem Statement.........................................................................................................................9 Chapter I: Privatization and Its Roots.......................................................................................10 Defining Privatization ....................................................................................................................10 Neoliberalism – The Ideology behind Privatization today .....................................................10 Paradoxes of Neoliberalism = Paradoxes of Neoliberal Privatization ....................................11 Chapter II: Kosova Being Made to Believe a Myth ..................................................................14 Kosova in Yugoslavia ....................................................................................................................14 After Milosevic Came to Power ....................................................................................................14 After the War .................................................................................................................................16 Summary ........................................................................................................................................17 Chapter III: Methodology ...........................................................................................................17 Overview ........................................................................................................................................17 Population and Sample ..................................................................................................................18 Sample of Enterprises ....................................................................................................................18 Sample of Interviewees ..................................................................................................................18 Data Collection and Instrumentation .............................................................................................19 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................................19 Limitations .....................................................................................................................................20 Summary ........................................................................................................................................20 Chapter IV: Results .....................................................................................................................21 Overview ........................................................................................................................................21 Primary Data Results .....................................................................................................................22 The Privatization of Kosovo Energy Distribution and Supply (KEDS) ........................................28 What is KEDS? ..............................................................................................................................28 The Process of Privatization ..........................................................................................................28 The Attempt to Privatize Post and Telecommunication of Kosovo (PTK) ...................................29 What is PTK? .................................................................................................................................29 The Attempt to Privatize PTK .......................................................................................................30 Summary ........................................................................................................................................30 Chapter V: Analysis and Discussion ..........................................................................................31 Privatization is Political .................................................................................................................31 No Win-Win Situation ...................................................................................................................31 Workers after Privatization ............................................................................................................32 Summary ........................................................................................................................................33 Chapter VI: Conclusions and Recommendations .....................................................................34 Bibliography Problem Statement The privatization of publicly and socially owned enterprises has been presented as the main tool for economic development in Kosovë. However, the long lasting belief that privately owned companies work better in terms of efficiency and productivity is being put to doubt in practice. In many instances, what was offered by the privatizers was not actually done. Often, the number of employees was decreased and even the destination of these enterprises was completely changed. So far, the private investment has been just an excuse to sell these enterprises as cheap as possible and as quick as possible. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the neoliberal ideology and privatization in Kosovë - with a particular
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Chinese Privatization: Between Plan and Market
    CHINESE PRIVATIZATION: BETWEEN PLAN AND MARKET LAN CAO* I INTRODUCTION Since 1978, when China adopted its open-door policy and allowed its economy to be exposed to the international market, it has adhered to what Deng Xiaoping called "socialism with Chinese characteristics."1 As a result, it has produced an economy with one of the most rapid growth rates in the world by steadfastly embarking on a developmental strategy of gradual, market-oriented measures while simultaneously remaining nominally socialistic. As I discuss in this article, this strategy of reformthe mere adoption of a market economy while retaining a socialist ownership baseshould similarly be characterized as "privatization with Chinese characteristics,"2 even though it departs markedly from the more orthodox strategy most commonly associated with the term "privatization," at least as that term has been conventionally understood in the context of emerging market or transitional economies. The Russian experience of privatization, for example, represents the more dominant and more favored approach to privatizationcertainly from the point of view of the West and its advisersand is characterized by immediate privatization of the state sector, including the swift and unequivocal transfer of assets from the publicly owned state enterprises to private hands. On the other hand, "privatization with Chinese characteristics" emphasizes not the immediate privatization of the state sector but rather the retention of the state sector with the Copyright © 2001 by Lan Cao This article is also available at http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/63LCPCao. * Professor of Law, College of William and Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law. At the time the article was written, the author was Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Choice: Substance Depends Upon Process
    Rural Development, Privatization and Public Choice: Substance Depends upon Process James Hite’ Abstract Whether or not privatization facilitates rural development depends upon what rural development means. In practice, rural development often is the result of a struggle between rent defenders and rent seekers. A positivist concept of rural development is proposed, and the institutions of public choice are examined to determine how they might influence privatization decisions. The conclusion is that whether or not privatization improves efficiencyof adjustmentin rural economies depends upon the specifics of political deals required to achieve a particular act of privatization. Key words: privatization, rural development, public choice, rent-seeking Introduction development itself. In attempting to do so, privatization, which is a topic worthy of Privatization is a term applied to a political considerable discussion on its own, receives process whereby local and even state governments somewhat secondary treatment. across the United States spin off certain services to private sector operatives. This term is also applied Summarized briefly, the argument advanced to the process by which the Thatcher government in in this paper is as follows: rural development can the United Kingdom devolved to private investors be thought of positivistically, as well as certain industries previously nationalized by Labor normatively. Positivistically, rural development is an governments, and it is the popular term applied to observable, potentially predictable process of the process of transforming Russia and its former adjustment on the part of rural economies to satellite nations into market economies (Vickers and Schumpeterian change in a market system. It is in Yarrow 1988; 1991). Ostensibly this paper is about the material interest of society that this process of privatization and rural development.
    [Show full text]
  • A Critique of John Stuart Mill Chris Daly
    Southern Illinois University Carbondale OpenSIUC Honors Theses University Honors Program 5-2002 The Boundaries of Liberalism in a Global Era: A Critique of John Stuart Mill Chris Daly Follow this and additional works at: http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/uhp_theses Recommended Citation Daly, Chris, "The Boundaries of Liberalism in a Global Era: A Critique of John Stuart Mill" (2002). Honors Theses. Paper 131. This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the University Honors Program at OpenSIUC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of OpenSIUC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. r The Boundaries of Liberalism in a Global Era: A Critique of John Stuart Mill Chris Daly May 8, 2002 r ABSTRACT The following study exanunes three works of John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Utilitarianism, and Three Essays on Religion, and their subsequent effects on liberalism. Comparing the notion on individual freedom espoused in On Liberty to the notion of the social welfare in Utilitarianism, this analysis posits that it is impossible for a political philosophy to have two ultimate ends. Thus, Mill's liberalism is inherently flawed. As this philosophy was the foundation of Mill's progressive vision for humanity that he discusses in his Three Essays on Religion, this vision becomes paradoxical as well. Contending that the neo-liberalist global economic order is the contemporary parallel for Mill's religion of humanity, this work further demonstrates how these philosophical flaws have spread to infect the core of globalization in the 21 st century as well as their implications for future international relations.
    [Show full text]
  • Some Worries About the Coherence of Left-Libertarianism Mathias Risse
    John F. Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Faculty Research Working Papers Series Can There be “Libertarianism without Inequality”? Some Worries About the Coherence of Left-Libertarianism Mathias Risse Nov 2003 RWP03-044 The views expressed in the KSG Faculty Research Working Paper Series are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the John F. Kennedy School of Government or Harvard University. All works posted here are owned and copyrighted by the author(s). Papers may be downloaded for personal use only. Can There be “Libertarianism without Inequality”? Some Worries About the Coherence of Left-Libertarianism1 Mathias Risse John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University October 25, 2003 1. Left-libertarianism is not a new star on the sky of political philosophy, but it was through the recent publication of Peter Vallentyne and Hillel Steiner’s anthologies that it became clearly visible as a contemporary movement with distinct historical roots. “Left- libertarian theories of justice,” says Vallentyne, “hold that agents are full self-owners and that natural resources are owned in some egalitarian manner. Unlike most versions of egalitarianism, left-libertarianism endorses full self-ownership, and thus places specific limits on what others may do to one’s person without one’s permission. Unlike right- libertarianism, it holds that natural resources may be privately appropriated only with the permission of, or with a significant payment to, the members of society. Like right- libertarianism, left-libertarianism holds that the basic rights of individuals are ownership rights. Left-libertarianism is promising because it coherently underwrites both some demands of material equality and some limits on the permissible means of promoting this equality” (Vallentyne and Steiner (2000a), p 1; emphasis added).
    [Show full text]
  • Privatization of Public Social Services a Background Paper Demetra Smith Nightingale, Nancy M
    Privatization of Public Social Services A Background Paper Demetra Smith Nightingale, Nancy M. Pindus This paper was prepared at the Urban Institute for U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Document date: October 15, 1997 Policy, under DOL Contract No. J-9-M-5-0048, #15. Released online: October 15, 1997 Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the positions of DOL, the Urban Institute or its sponsors. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Urban Institute, its board, its sponsors, or other authors in the series 1. Introduction The purposes of the paper are to provide a general overview of the extent of privatization of public services in the areas of social services, welfare, and employment; rationales for privatizing service delivery, and evidence of effectiveness or problems. Examples are included to highlight specific types of privatization and actual operational experience. The paper is not intended to be a comprehensive treatment of the overall subject of privatization, but rather a brief review of issues and experiences specifically related to the delivery of employment and training, welfare, and social services. The key points that are drawn from a review of the literature are: There is no single definition of privatization. Privatization covers a broad range of methods and models, including contracting out for services, voucher programs, and even the sale of public assets to the private sector. But for the purposes of this paper, privatization refers to the provision of publicly-funded services and activities by non-governmental entities.
    [Show full text]
  • Transforming Government Through Privatization
    20th Anniversary Edition Annual Privatization Report 2006 Transforming Government Through Privatization Reflections from Pioneers in Government Reform Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Governor Mitch Daniels Governor Mark Sanford Robert W. Poole, Jr. Reason Foundation Reason Foundation’s mission is to advance a free society by developing, apply- ing, and promoting libertarian principles, including individual liberty, free markets, and the rule of law. We use journalism and public policy research to influence the frameworks and actions of policymakers, journalists, and opin- ion leaders. Reason Foundation’s nonpartisan public policy research promotes choice, competition, and a dynamic market economy as the foundation for human dignity and prog- ress. Reason produces rigorous, peer-reviewed research and directly engages the policy pro- cess, seeking strategies that emphasize cooperation, flexibility, local knowledge, and results. Through practical and innovative approaches to complex problems, Reason seeks to change the way people think about issues, and promote policies that allow and encourage individuals and voluntary institutions to flourish. Reason Foundation is a tax-exempt research and education organization as defined under IRS code 501(c)(3). Reason Foundation is supported by voluntary contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations. The views expressed in these essays are those of the individual author, not necessarily those of Reason Foundation or its trustees. Copyright © 2006 Reason Foundation. Photos used in this publication are copyright © 1996 Photodisc, Inc. All rights reserved. Authors Editor the Association of Private Correctional & Treatment Organizations • Leonard C. Gilroy • Chris Edwards is the director of Tax Principal Authors Policy Studies at the Cato Institute • Ted Balaker • William D. Eggers is the global director • Shikha Dalmia for Deloitte Research—Public Sector • Leonard C.
    [Show full text]
  • Privatization and Property in Biology Joan E
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Washington University St. Louis: Open Scholarship Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations Biology 6-2014 Privatization and Property in Biology Joan E. Strassmann Washington University in St Louis, [email protected] David C. Queller Washington University in St Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bio_facpubs Part of the Behavior and Ethology Commons, and the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Strassmann, Joan E. and Queller, David C., "Privatization and Property in Biology" (2014). Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations. 49. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bio_facpubs/49 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Biology at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 Privatization and property in biology 2 3 Joan E. Strassmann & David C. Queller 4 5 Department of Biology, Campus Box 1137 6 WasHington University in St. Louis 7 One Brookings Drive 8 St. Louis MO 63130 9 10 Corresponding autHor: Joan E. Strassmann 11 phone: 01-832-978-5961 12 email: [email protected] 13 14 6191 words 1 15 ABSTRACT 16 17 Organisms evolve to control, preserve, protect and invest in their own bodies. When 18 they do likewise with external resources they privatize those resources and convert 19 tHem into tHeir own property. Property is a neglected topic in biology, though 20 examples include territories, domiciles and nest structures, food cacHing, mate 21 guarding, and the resources and partners in mutualisms.
    [Show full text]
  • Corporation Involvement in Prison Labor and the Privatization of the Prison System Alythea S
    The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Master's Projects and Capstones Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects 12-2015 Incentives to Incarcerate: Corporation Involvement in Prison Labor and the Privatization of the Prison System Alythea S. Morrell University of San Francisco, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, Law and Race Commons, Political Science Commons, Sociology Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Morrell, Alythea S., "Incentives to Incarcerate: Corporation Involvement in Prison Labor and the Privatization of the Prison System" (2015). Master's Projects and Capstones. 263. https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/263 This Project/Capstone is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Projects and Capstones by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. University of San Francisco Incentives to Incarcerate: Corporation Involvement in Prison Labor and the Privatization of the Prison System A Field Project Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education International and Multicultural Education Department
    [Show full text]
  • War Markets: the Neoliberal Theory
    WAR MARKETS: THE NEOLIBERAL THEORY AND THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ___________________________________ A Thesis Presented to The College of Arts and Sciences Ohio University ____________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for Graduation with Honors in Political Science ____________________________________ by Kiersten Lynn Arnoni June 2011 This thesis has been approved by the Department of Political Science and the College of Arts and Sciences ____________________________________ Professor of Political Science ____________________________________ Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Barry Tadlock for his support and guidance as my thesis advisor. Dr. Tadlock’s suggestions were valuable assets to this thesis. Abstract The neoliberal theory threatens permanent damage to American democracy. One guiding principle of theory is that the political marketplace is guided by market rationality. Also concentration of power resets with business and governing elites. As business norms begin to dominate politically, democratic ideals and laws equate only to tools and hurdles. Can the neoliberal theory help explain the situation of privatization and our military? Since the end of the Cold War, military size has been reduced, however, the need for military presence has not. The private war industry has begun to pick up the slack and private contractors have increased in areas needing military support. In Iraq, contractors make up the second largest contingent force, behind the U.S. military. Blackwater, or currently Xe Services LLC, is a powerful organization within the private war industry. Blackwater has accumulated over one billion dollars in contracts with the U.S. government. With the expanding use of private war contractors, their constitutionality comes into question.
    [Show full text]
  • The Privatization of Public Lands
    THE PRIVATIZATION OF PUBLIC LANDS Thomas A. More plans, all of which have been discussed under the general USDA Forest Service term “marketization” (Lehmann 1995). PO Box 968 Burlington, VT 05402 Today there are strong pressures toward privatization 1.0 INTRODUCTION and a more market-driven approach to the management of public goods. Groups like the Cato Institute, Reason In February, 2006, President Bush’s proposed budget Foundation, and Property Environment Research included a plan to raise money by auctioning 300,000 Center have argued that public lands are ineffi cient acres of national forests in 41 states for an estimated and that the country as a whole would be better off if $800 million. A half million acres of Department of they were transferred to the private sector. Such claims Interior land also would be auctioned to reduce the remain controversial, and understanding them requires national defi cit (New York Times, March 25, 2006, p. examining their theoretical basis. In this paper I present A22). In the past year, various members of Congress a brief history of the changing attitudes that led to the have proposed that public lands, and national parks that current interest in privatization, describe the theoretical attract fewer than 10,000 visitors annually, be sold to pay case for the private and public sectors, and discuss for damages from Hurricane Katrina. marketization--the middle position between these two extremes. At present, these sales appear unlikely as the American public seems deeply committed to its public lands. 2.0 HISTORICAL TRENDS IN This attachment may well increase as the population PUBLIC LANDS grows.
    [Show full text]
  • An Economic Argument for Privatization of Highway Ownership
    14 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1107 An Economic Argument for Privatization of Highway Ownership DAVID GELTNER AND FRED MoAVENZADEH There are four potential economic justifications for privatizing power," like monopolies or cartels, and it would be found highways: greater revenues without Increased taxes, improved feasible and advantageous to charge tolls that were too high highway use efficiency, production efficiency of maintenance, and to provide too little quantity or quality of road, from a and quality of highway services. However, because of market social perspective). (c) Related to the preceding two points are imperfections of laissez.faire private provision of highways, the economic feasibility and desirability of privatization "externalities" associated with highway production (i.e., costs depend on regulatory structures to efficiently control and miti­ or benefits of producing highways that cannot be traded in any gate potential problems of excess tolls and inadequate mainte­ market, such that the highway producer cannot "experience" nance. Possible types of regulatory structures are discussed. these costs or benefits and take them into account in his produc­ tion decision). Another source of market failure sometimes mentioned regarding highways is economies of scale or Throughout history, and in virtually all lands, most highways "lumpy" capacity in highway production, but this is just a have been built, owned, and ma.intained by governments. There technical reason underlying (b ). hove been some important exceptions to this rule, perhaps most These sources of "imperfection" represenr the basic the­ notably the case of Great Britain during the Industrial Revolu­ oretical justification for government provision of highways, tion before the advent of the railroads.
    [Show full text]
  • How to Prevent Privatization
    Power Tools to Fight Privatization How to Prevent Privatization An Activist’s Guide 1 Privatization: the Public Pays All across America, AFSCME members and the public face the threat of privatization of vital services and valuable public assets. From public works and social services to public schools and corrections facilities, corporations are seizing control of public services and public assets. They’re writing and lobbying for bills that create a market, buying the support of elected officials with enormous campaign contributions and funding right- wing “think tanks” that are working overtime to convince the country that private companies can do everything better than the public sector. This coordinated campaign to privatize government at every level has even mutated to include privatization of important policy decisions. For public service employees and the people we serve, the price of privatization is high and getting higher. For communities, because the privatizers are often non-union and are located far from where they provide a service, it means fewer good jobs, a reduced tax base and money shipped out of the local economy. For workers, privatization threatens job security, pay and benefits, working conditions and career opportunities. For the public, it means less control, less accountability, lower quality and higher costs. That is why we must fight privatization — before the first warning sign and with every resource. In this strategy guide, we offer ideas and information to fight this battle. As we travel this country, we often hear people tell us that they didn’t fight back against privatization “until it was too late.” With the commitment and dedication of AFSCME members and our allies, we hope you will be able to say that you helped stop privatization “before it even began.” I.
    [Show full text]