Exclusion and the Global Political Economy: from Critique to Rethinking
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EXCLUSION AND THE GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY: FROM CRITIQUE TO RETHINKING By Daniel Pierre-Antoine A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © Daniel Pierre-Antoine, 2006 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be includedBien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. i * i Canada Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT This thesis is about exclusion in the neoliberal global economy. It takes as its starting point the picture of the world painted by Gramscian, feminist and postcolonialist theories of global politics. Each of these critical theories of international relations seeks to reveal and explain how neoliberalism affects workers, women, and postcolonial peoples. Each also argues that the current world order is not inevitable. It is the product of decisions made by specific actors pursuing specific objectives, and it is questioned and resisted by other actors who experience it as an imposition and a series of limitations on their own desire to shape their lives. The thesis accepts this contention, but it maintains that critical theories suffer from two limitations. First, they are developed by starting from the lives of discrete actors and represent only those actors’ experience and understanding of world politics. Secondly, these theories are associated with political projects that answer their actors’ primary concerns without necessarily taking into account others’. The result is the risk of substituting one exclusionary order—the one they all critique—for another. It is the contention of this thesis that from a theoretical and normative point of view, it is necessary to draw on different criticisms of global order to account for exclusion in its various forms and to minimise or eliminate it through a transformation of world order. Using the psychology literature on empathy, the thesis shows that human beings have the capacity to develop an awareness of, and an appreciation for, one another’s suffering, but that this capacity is diminished by dominant ways of representing some categories of people. By looking at those who are excluded by neoliberalism and how they have reacted to it with global protests that have been taking place since the 1990s, we can see how many critics of neoliberalism have become more sensitive to the way globalization affects not only themselves but others far away. We can also see that they have made a conscious effort to understand others and associate them in the process of rethinking globalization on more inclusive terms. 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have benefited from the support and advice of numerous people in this endeavour. It is a difficult task to acknowledge all of them. Professors, colleagues, friends, and relatives have all contributed to its success in various ways. I am grateful to my committee members for allowing to pursue a project that was dear to me. I therefore wish to thank Michael Dolan, Jay Drydyk, Farhang Rajaee, Claire Turenne Sjolander and my supervisor, Fiona Robinson. I am especially indebted to Fiona Robinson for her thorough and timely input into this work from the proposal to the final stage. She not only taught me how to write a thesis, by her example she also taught me how to be a supervisor. Friends and colleagues were also an important source of comfort in the most difficult moments. Here the members of the unofficial Political Science thesis-writing ‘support group’ must get a large share of the credit. Rob Aitken, Elizabeth Friesen, Pam Huber, Carla Lam, and Vahide Pekel have been at the core of this group. Rob Aitken deserves particular mention for having also read one version or another of all chapters. Other friends, some at other universities or in other cities, have also been a source of encouragement. Todd Always, Abdul-Rasheed Draman, Rob Judge, Heather Murray, Daniel Poon, David Pringle, Katja Rodriguez, and Linda Tam have gone through, or are still going through, the same thesis-writing process. Finally, relatives have played an important part in this achievement. I must thank my aunt Cecile Sabourin and especially my parents who have never ceased to help me in every possible way in all my academic undertakings. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION /I Subjective Critiques of IR Theory /4 Empathy and global social relations /8 Globalization, Neoliberalism, and Exclusion /II Plan of the Thesis /17 Endnotes /20 CHAPTER I 122 The Critical Turn in IR /24 Epistemology Subjectivity Normativity Critical theories of IR /43 Orthodox IR theory as subjective knowledge Critical subjectivity and its epistemological relevance Epistemology Politics and the normative limitations o f critical theory Conclusion /76 Endnotes /78 CHAPTER II /84 A Postmodern Politics of Difference /87 What is postmodernism? Poststructuralism as the method o f postmodernism iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Subjectivity, emancipation, and violence Deconstruction and ‘pluralization ’ Whither subjectivity and ethics? A ‘postmodern pragmatism ’ Cosmopolitanism and dialogue /110 Habermasian Critical Theory and normative theory The modern state as moral community An ethic o f dialogue A global dialogical community Inclusion as subsuming? Conclusion /131 Endnotes /134 CHAPTER III /138 Empathy and Social Relations /142 What is Empathy? Empathy in social communication Empathy in Social Relations /148 Bystanders, transgressors, and virtual transgressors Distancing Appropriateness o f help Root causes and transgression: the structural causes o f suffering From individual to collective agents /173 Shared conditions and the development o f empathy Multiple empathy claimants and the care-justice debate Conclusion /182 Endnotes /184 CHAPTER IV /187 Markets, Poverty, and Exclusion /190 Poverty as exclusion The banality o f suffering Neoliberalism as Paradigm and Policy /197 Shaping character and culture v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Neoliberalism in North America Wages and working conditions Public-private overlap I: the private enters the public Precarious work and self-employment The public-private overlap II: the public enters the private The withering away o f culture Conclusion /250 Endnotes /253 CHAPTER V /260 Which Ethos of Globalization? /265 Sameness amidst difference The search for the values o f another world Protests and Global Consciousness1212 Key events before Seattle 1999 Seattle 1999 and the emergence o f a global consciousness The World Social Forum: Creating Another Ethos of Globalization? /283 Origins o f the WSF The WSF and the principles of ‘another world ’ Participants and their views Open-ended dialogue rather than moral absolutes Including new actors and regions: WSF 2005 and beyond An Ethical Outlook, Discourse, and Practice /299 Conclusion /310 Endnotes /312 CONCLUSION /317 The Need for Engagement /320 From Engagement to Agency /322 BIBLIOGRAPHY /326 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Ce qu ’il y a de commun entre eux tous n ’est pas une nature, mats une condition, c ’est-a- dire un ensemble de limites et de contraintes: