DOCSLIB.ORG

An Analysis of Venezuela's Anti-Globalist Discourse

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
An Analysis of Venezuela's Anti-Globalist Discourse AN ANALYSIS OF VENEZUELA’S ANTI-GLOBALIST DISCOURSE AND TRANSITION FROM WORLD’S RICHEST TO WORLD’S POOREST GROUP AUTHORS: FREJA SOFIE SCHNEDLER ROSENDAHL MARIANNE QVISTGAARD HANSEN COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL MA INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS SPANISH & AMERICAN STUDIES SUBMISSION DATE: SEPTEMBER 15, 2017 SUPERVISOR: CARLOS SALAS LIND NUMBER OF PAGES: 117,5 CHARACTERS: 267.307 ROSENDAHL & QVISTGAARD, 2017 AN ANALYSIS OF VENEZUELA’S ANTI-GLOBALIST DISCOURSE AND TRANSITION FROM WORLD’S RICHEST TO WORLD’S POOREST ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank our supervisor Carlos Salas Lind for his knowledge on the subject and professional guidance. Furthermore, a big hug and thanks to our families, friends and partners Thomas Andrew Jepps and Lærke Katrine Taidal for proofreading our thesis and giving valuable comments, and for their understanding, patience and critical eyes throughout this long and challenging process. 2 ROSENDAHL & QVISTGAARD, 2017 AN ANALYSIS OF VENEZUELA’S ANTI-GLOBALIST DISCOURSE AND TRANSITION FROM WORLD’S RICHEST TO WORLD’S POOREST LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AD - Acción Democrática (Democratic Action) ALBA - Alianza Bolivariana Para los Pueblos de Nuestra América (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America) BB - Billion barrels Bbl - Barrel or barrels BRIC(S) - Association of major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. CAP - Carlos Andrés Pérez (President of Venezuela 1974-1979 & 1989-1993) CELAC - Community of Latin American and Caribbean States CIA WF - Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook COPEI - Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente (Social Christian Party) CTV - Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela (Federation of labor unions in Venezuela) EU - European Union FDI - Foreign Direct Investment FTA - Free Trade Agreement FTAA - Free Trade Agreement of the Americas GD - Great Depression GDP - Gross Domestic Product G7 - Group of Seven - summit of seven of the world’s most powerful economies. Currently consists of: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States, European Union. IMF - International Monetary Fund ISI - Import Substitution Industrialisation MERCOSUR - Mercado Común del Sur MVR - Movimiento Quinta República (Fifth Republic Movement) NAFTA - The North American Free Trade Agreement NRT - New Regionalism Theory NSC - North-South cooperation OAS - Organization of American States OEC - The Observatory of Economic Complexity OECD - Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OPEC - Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries PCV - Partido Comunista de Venezuela (Communist Party of Venezuela) PDVSA - Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. 3 ROSENDAHL & QVISTGAARD, 2017 AN ANALYSIS OF VENEZUELA’S ANTI-GLOBALIST DISCOURSE AND TRANSITION FROM WORLD’S RICHEST TO WORLD’S POOREST PSUV - Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) PTA - Peoples’ Trade Agreement RTA - Regional Trade Agreement SSC - South-South cooperation TCC - transnational capitalist class TI - Transparency International UNASUR - Unión de Naciones Suramericanos UNOSSC - United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation US - United States (of America) USCIS - United States Citizenship and Immigration Services USD - American dollar WB - World Bank WC - Washington Consensus WEC - World Economic Forum WSF - World Social Forum WTO - World Trade Organization WW1 - First World War WW2 - Second World War 4 ROSENDAHL & QVISTGAARD, 2017 AN ANALYSIS OF VENEZUELA’S ANTI-GLOBALIST DISCOURSE AND TRANSITION FROM WORLD’S RICHEST TO WORLD’S POOREST ABSTRACT Venezuela var i 2001 det land med de største oliereserver i verden, og landet blev dengang regnet for at være Sydamerikas rigeste. Imidlertid kollapsede markedet for råolie i 2014, hvilket har haft katastrofale konsekvenser for det olieafhængige land, og det har resulteret i et splittet samfund med borgerkrigslignende tilstande. I dag, blot 16 år senere, er landet derfor plaget af hyperinflation, daglige demonstrationer og mangel på basale fornødenheder såsom mad og medicin. Dette speciale har til formål at undersøge, hvordan verdens mest olierige land er havnet i en så omfattende krise, og hvorvidt den siddende regerings anti-globale diskurs har påvirket landets nuværende økonomiske situation. Til at udarbejde en dybdegående besvarelse på problemformuleringen er der anvendt en bred vifte af sekundær litteratur i form af videnskabelige artikler, rapporter og analyser fra anerkendte internationale instanser. Ud fra undersøgelsen kan det konkluderes, at Venezuela i stigende grad har forsømt deres landbrugssektor, siden de begyndte at producere råolie, hvilket har resulteret i en økonomi, der er yderst sårbar over for de svingende oliepriser. Dertil har Venezuela undladt at stimulere udviklingen af andre erhverv og gøre landet mere økonomisk stabilt. Den nuværende økonomiske krise har dermed rødder, der strækker sig længere tilbage end den bolivarianske revolution, mens regeringens anti-globale diskurs og åbenlyse anti-amerikanske retorik har forværret situationen yderligere. 5 ROSENDAHL & QVISTGAARD, 2017 AN ANALYSIS OF VENEZUELA’S ANTI-GLOBALIST DISCOURSE AND TRANSITION FROM WORLD’S RICHEST TO WORLD’S POOREST TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2 LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 3 ABSTRACT 5 1. INTRODUCTION 8 1.1. RESEACH QUESTION 9 1.2. RESEARCH MOTIVATION 9 1.3. CHAPTER OVERVIEW 10 2. METHODOLOGY 11 2.1. RESEARCH APPROACH 11 2.1.1. PHILOSOPHICAL PARADIGM 11 2.1.2. ONTOLOGY 12 2.1.3. EPISTEMOLOGY 13 2.2. THE CASE STUDY APPROACH 14 2.2.1. NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF THE CASE STUDY APPROACH 15 2.3. LITERATURE REVIEW 15 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 17 3.1. THE WASHINGTON CONSENSUS – A NEOLIBERAL THEORY 17 3.1.1. THE WASHINGTON CONSENSUS IN LATIN AMERICA 19 3.2. DEFINING THE POLITICAL LEFT 20 3.2.1 THE TWO LEFTS 21 3.3. GLOBALISATION THEORY 22 3.3.1. THE HYPERGLOBALISTS 23 3.3.2. THE SCPETICS 24 3.3.3. THE TRANSFORMATIONALISTS 24 3.3.4. NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF GLOBALISATION THEORY 26 3.4. ANTI-AMERICANISM 26 3.5. NEW REGIONALISM THEORY 27 3.6. REGIONAL INTEGRATION 28 3.7. THE CONCEPT OF SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION 29 4. FROM COFFEE PRODUCING TO OIL DEPENDENT 30 4.1. HISTORICAL CONTEXT 30 4.2. EL PACTO PUNTO FIJO: STABILITY AND CONTINUITY 34 4.3. VENEZUELA SAUDITA 35 4.4. PARTY SYSTEM IN DISARRAY 37 4.5. THE WASHINGTON CONSENSUS: A WAY OUT? 38 4.6. SUB-CONSCLUSION 42 5. FROM NEOLIBERALISM TO BOLIVARIANISM 44 5.1. THE RISE OF CHÀVEZ 44 5.2. THE RADICAL LEFT 45 5.3. SOCIALISM OF THE 21ST CENTURY 46 5.4. WHY TURNING LEFT? 48 6 ROSENDAHL & QVISTGAARD, 2017 AN ANALYSIS OF VENEZUELA’S ANTI-GLOBALIST DISCOURSE AND TRANSITION FROM WORLD’S RICHEST TO WORLD’S POOREST 5.5. SUB-CONCLUSION 49 6. ANALYSIS: THE FIGHT AGAINST NEOLIBERALISM 50 6.1. US DEMOCRACY PROMOTION IN LATIN AMERICA 50 6.1.1. WESTERN INTERPELLATION OF THE MEDIA 51 6.2. SEALING OFF THE ECONOMY? 53 6.3. SUB-CONCLUSION 57 7. ANALYSIS: REGIONALISM, COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT 59 7.1. INTEGRATION PROJECTS 59 7.1.1. THE BOLLIVARIAN ALLIANCE FOR POEPLES OF OUR AMERICA 62 7.1.2. THE RESULT: MERELY A PATCHWORK OF COMPETING PROJECTS? 67 7.1.3. HINDRANCES TO REGIONAL INTEGRATION 68 7.2. REGIONAL INITIATIVES INDUCED BY VENEZUELA 69 7.3. VENEZUELA AND SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION 72 7.3.1. CHINA IN VENEZUELA 72 7.3.2. VENEZUELA OUTSIDE THE HEMISPHERE 73 7.4. SUB-CONCLUSION 75 8. THE PETRO-STATE 77 8.1. UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OIL AND VENEZUELA 77 8.2. CHÀVEZ, PDVSA AND NATIONALISATIONS 81 8.3. ANALYSING VENEZUELA’S PETRO-DIPLOMACY AND THE ROLE OF OPEC 85 8.3.1. PETROAMÈRICA 87 8.4. PRESIDENT MADURO AND OIL TODAY 89 8.5. DISCUSSING HOW VENEZUELA CAN OVERCOME ITS DUTCH DISEASE 94 8.5.1. DIVERSIFICATION 95 8.5.2. INVESTMENT 99 8.5.3. MISMANGEMENT AND CORRUPTION 101 8.5.4. LIBERALISATION OF MARKETS 104 8.6. SUB-CONCLUSION 106 9. DISCUSSION 108 10. COMPARISON: CHÀVEZ AND MADURO TO TRUMP 115 11. CONCLUSION 117 11.1. EVALUATION OF THE METHODOLOGY 119 12. BIBLIOGRAPHY 120 13. APPENDICES 129 13.1. APPENDIX A: VENEZUELA TIMELINE 129 13.2. APPENDIX B: INT. INSTITUTIONS OPPOSING VENEZUELA’S POLITICAL PRISONERS 132 7 ROSENDAHL & QVISTGAARD, 2017 AN ANALYSIS OF VENEZUELA’S ANTI-GLOBALIST DISCOURSE AND TRANSITION FROM WORLD’S RICHEST TO WORLD’S POOREST 1. INTRODUCTION Twelve years ago, at the 5th World Social Forum in Brazil, the support of an experiment called 21st century socialism in Venezuela was announced by late-president Hugo Chávez. This experiment was initiated as a political project concerning southern unity, integration and fighting inequality; however, it has become, what most scholars currently call, a failed state with dictatorship resembling conditions, sky high inflation rates and starvation. Nevertheless, the leader of the new national Constituent Assembly, Delcy Rodriguez, supported by the Venezuelan president, stated in September 2017: “I have denied and continue denying that Venezuela has a humanitarian crisis” (Newman, 2017). This rather unconvincing statement contradicts the reality of what is happening in Venezuela. Specifically, over the past year, 75 percent of the Venezuelan population have lost an average of 8.7 kilos and more than 2.675 demonstrations have taken place between April 1 and June 1, 2017 (an average of 33 protests per day), as conflicts are accelerating between the Venezuelan neoliberalists and the devoted socialist supporters of Chavismo and the Bolivarian dream creating civil war-like conditions (Almagro, 2017). For many observers, this catastrophe seemed unthinkable as fifty years ago Venezuela was
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela: Nicolas Maduro’S Cabinet Chair: Peter Derrah
    Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela: Nicolas Maduro’s Cabinet Chair: Peter Derrah 1 Table of Contents 3. Letter from Chair 4. Members of Committee 5. Committee Background A.Solving the Economic Crisis B.Solving the Presidential Crisis 2 Dear LYMUN delegates, Hi, my name is Peter Derrah and I am a senior at Lyons Township High School. I have done MUN for all my four years of high school, and I was a vice chair at the previous LYMUN conference. LYMUN is a well run conference and I hope that you all will have a good experience here. In this committee you all will be representing high level political figures in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as you deal with an incomprehensible level of inflation and general economic collapse, as well as internal political disputes with opposition candidates, the National Assembly, and massive protests and general civil unrest. This should be a very interesting committee, as these ongoing issues are very serious, urgent, and have shaped geopolitics recently. I know a lot of these issues are extremely complex and so I suggest that you do enough research to have at least a basic understanding of them and solutions which could solve them. For this reason I highly suggest you read the background. It is important to remember the ​ ​ individual background for your figure (though this may be difficult for lower level politicians) as well as the political ideology of the ruling coalition and the power dynamics of Venezuela’s current government. I hope that you all will put in good effort into preparation, write position papers, actively speak and participate in moderated and unmoderated caucus, and come up with creative and informed solutions to these pressing issues.
    [Show full text]
  • An Analysis of the New York Times 2014 Anti-Government Protests in Venezuela
    Framing Rebellion: An Analysis of the New York Times 2014 Anti-government Protests in Venezuela A Research Paper presented by: Melanie Hughes Scotland, U.K. in partial fulfilment of the requirements for obtaining the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Major: Social Justice Perspectives (SJP) Specialisation: Peace & Conflict Studies Members of the Examining Committee: Dubravka Zarkov & Silke Heumann The Hague, The Netherlands, Sept. 2014 ii List of Acronyms ISS Institute of Social Studies NYT The New York Times; also referred to as the Times IMF International Monetary Fund WB World Bank IDB International Development Bank iii Acknowledgements I would like to extend a gargantuan thanks to my supervisor, Dubravka Zarkov, for her continual support and for her valuable insights into conflict in contemporary society. I would also like to express my appreciation for her sol- idarity and for keeping my extensive use of descriptive adjectives in check. I would also like to thank Silke Heumann for her reference material, which I had difficulty incorporating due to length and time constraints. iv Abstract This research explores how the mainstream news media outlet, the New York Times framed the 2014 anti-government protests in Venezuela, which erupted online in February, 2014. A content analysis revealed that the domi- nant narrative disseminated by the New York Times conveyed the misleading impression that Venezuela was yet another nation ripe for democratic revolu- tion, poised to overthrow a violently repressive regime. The Venezuelan anti- government protest(or)s were overwhelmingly framed in terms of state repression of peaceful protes(or)s, which masked their underlying causes.
    [Show full text]
  • Chávez Venezuela
    A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details The Ghost of the Plantation: Race, Class, Gender and Popular Culture in Venezuela Nadia Mosquera Muriel Doctoral Thesis Submitted for Doctor of Philosophy in International Development University of Sussex November 2018 2 I hereby declare that this thesis has not been, and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature: Nadia Mosquera Muriel 3 UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX NADIA MOSQUERA MURIEL PHD IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT “THE GHOST OF THE PLANTATION”: RACE, CLASS, GENDER AND POPULAR CULTURE IN VENEZUELA Abstract In the age of #BlackLivesMatter in the United States and Reaja ou Será Mortx (React or Die) in Brazil, black political mobilisations across the globe seek to confront racial injustice and structural discrimination against people of African descent or Afro- descendants. A recent wave of North American, European, and Latin American scholars has begun to look at Afro-Latin American social movements in more innovative ways. However, English-language scholarship on Afro-Latin America rarely explores Afro- descendants in Venezuela.
    [Show full text]
  • Historia De Espacio Político Latinoamericano Visto Desde La Distinción Política Entre Derecha E Izquierda
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Zaloamati Maestría en Sociología Propuestas políticas partidistas y percepción ciudadana en América Latina. Anos 2000-2008 ALUMNO: Fermín Feria Pulido ASESOR: Dr. Godofredo Vidal de la Rosa. Diciembre 2010 Índice Página Introducción i Capítulo I Perspectivas teóricas del estudio de la derecha e izquierda políticas. 1 Derecha e izquierda 2 ¿Es válido todavía distinguir entre derecha e izquierda? 9 ¿El Populismo es exclusivo de la izquierda? 11 Los Estados que integran a América Latina 16 Capítulo II Esbozo histórico de cuatro procesos latinoamericanos en el siglo XX: Brasil, Colombia, México, Venezuela Populismos latinoamericanos 20 Brasil (1930-1956) 24 Colombia (1930-1973) 28 El Bogotazo y la Violencia 32 México (1930-1960) 35 Venezuela (1941-1948) 40 Dictaduras autoritarias promovidas por Estados Unidos 45 (Década de 1960) Brasil 46 Colombia 47 Venezuela 48 América Latina en las décadas 1970-1990 50 América Latina en el siglo XXI 53 Historia reciente de los Estados estudiados Brasil 54 Colombia 56 México 57 Venezuela 59 Capítulo III Derecha e izquierda partidista latinoamericana, temas comunes 62 ¿Enfoques diferentes? Democracia 65 Democracia y el autoritarismo 68 Intervención estatal: Estado regulador frente a libre mercado Estado interventor 69 Libre mercado 71 Nivel de secularización y religiosidad en los partidos 72 Planteamientos de las organizaciones latinoamericanas de partidos políticos acerca de los temas comunes ODCA 73 COPPPAL 74 Foro de Sao Paolo 74 La ideología en los textos de las organizaciones latinoamericanas de partidos políticos 76 Democracia ODCA 77 COPPPAL 78 Foro de Sao Paolo 78 Estado regulador frente a libre mercado ODCA 79 COPPPAL 81 Foro de Sao Paolo 82 Valores: nivel de secularización vs.
    [Show full text]
  • Aliyah and Settlement Process?
    Jewish Women in Pre-State Israel HBI SERIES ON JEWISH WOMEN Shulamit Reinharz, General Editor Joyce Antler, Associate Editor Sylvia Barack Fishman, Associate Editor The HBI Series on Jewish Women, created by the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, pub- lishes a wide range of books by and about Jewish women in diverse contexts and time periods. Of interest to scholars and the educated public, the HBI Series on Jewish Women fills major gaps in Jewish Studies and in Women and Gender Studies as well as their intersection. For the complete list of books that are available in this series, please see www.upne.com and www.upne.com/series/BSJW.html. Ruth Kark, Margalit Shilo, and Galit Hasan-Rokem, editors, Jewish Women in Pre-State Israel: Life History, Politics, and Culture Tova Hartman, Feminism Encounters Traditional Judaism: Resistance and Accommodation Anne Lapidus Lerner, Eternally Eve: Images of Eve in the Hebrew Bible, Midrash, and Modern Jewish Poetry Margalit Shilo, Princess or Prisoner? Jewish Women in Jerusalem, 1840–1914 Marcia Falk, translator, The Song of Songs: Love Lyrics from the Bible Sylvia Barack Fishman, Double or Nothing? Jewish Families and Mixed Marriage Avraham Grossman, Pious and Rebellious: Jewish Women in Medieval Europe Iris Parush, Reading Jewish Women: Marginality and Modernization in Nineteenth-Century Eastern European Jewish Society Shulamit Reinharz and Mark A. Raider, editors, American Jewish Women and the Zionist Enterprise Tamar Ross, Expanding the Palace of Torah: Orthodoxy and Feminism Farideh Goldin, Wedding Song: Memoirs of an Iranian Jewish Woman Elizabeth Wyner Mark, editor, The Covenant of Circumcision: New Perspectives on an Ancient Jewish Rite Rochelle L.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Full Issue
    Volume 41 • Number 2 • February 2013 Looking Forward to the 2013 ASA Annual Meeting inside The Two Cities of New York: Wealth, Poverty, and Diversity in the Big Apple 3 Russell Sage Andrew A. Beveridge, Queens College development harkens back to 122nd Street on the West Side, and Foundation’s New and Graduate Center CUNY Disraeli’s famous comment about above 110th north of Central Park President he many poor immigrants and England in his book Sybil or really exists in the non-Manhattan The Foundation names Tminorities as well as some afflu- the Two Nations, “Two nations realm. Danziger, an expert on ent members of these groups, the between whom there is no inter- Around the country and around economic inequality, its new super wealthy financial traders course and no sympathy; who are the world, Manhattan took center president. and executives, the mostly white as ignorant of each other’s habits, stage due to the Occupy Wall high-powered and high-priced thoughts, and feelings, as if they Street movement, which took were dwellers in different zones, or root September 2011 in Zucotti Ten Reasons to Check lawyers, a large community 4 inhabitants of different planets.... Park in downtown Manhattan Out TRAILS devoted to creating the arts, and a city government that has fostered The rich and the poor.” near the New York City Federal Check out the 10 most Reserve Bank, the New York Stock and subsidized the wealthy have Defining Manhattan downloaded resources of created a united and divided city Exchange, and not far from the 2012.
    [Show full text]
  • THE CHAVEZ Pages
    Third World Quarterly, Vol 24, No 1, pp 63–76, 2003 The Chávez phenomenon: political change in Venezuela RONALD D SYLVIA & CONSTANTINE P DANOPOULOS ABSTRACT This article focuses on the advent and governing style of, and issues facing colonel-turned politician Hugo Chávez since he became president of Venezuela in 1998 with 58% of the vote. The article begins with a brief account of the nature of the country’s political environment that emerged in 1958, following the demise of the Perez Jimenez dictatorship. Aided by phenomenal increases in oil prices, Venezuela’s political elites reached a pact that governed the country for nearly four decades. Huge increases in education, health and other social services constituted the hallmark of Venezuela’s ‘subsidised democracy’. Pervasive corruption, a decrease in oil revenues and two abortive coups in 1992 challenged the foundations of subsidised democracy. The election of Chávez in 1998 sealed the fate of the 1958 pact. Chávez’s charisma, anti- colonial/Bolivarist rhetoric, and increasing levels of poverty form the basis of his support among the poor and dissatisfied middle classes. The articles then turns its attention to Chávez’s governing style and the problems he faces as he labours to turn around the country’s stagnant economy. Populist initiatives aimed at wealth redistribution, land reform and a more multidimensional and Third World-orientated foreign policy form the main tenets of the Chávez regime. These, coupled with anti-business rhetoric, over-dependence on oil revenues and opposition from Venezuela’s political and economic elites, have polarised the country and threaten its political stability.
    [Show full text]
  • Venezuela: Issues for Congress, 2013-2016
    Venezuela: Issues for Congress, 2013-2016 Mark P. Sullivan Specialist in Latin American Affairs January 23, 2017 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R43239 Venezuela: Issues for Congress, 2013-2016 Summary Although historically the United States had close relations with Venezuela, a major oil supplier, friction in bilateral relations increased under the leftist, populist government of President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013), who died in 2013 after battling cancer. After Chávez’s death, Venezuela held presidential elections in which acting President Nicolás Maduro narrowly defeated Henrique Capriles of the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), with the opposition alleging significant irregularities. In 2014, the Maduro government violently suppressed protests and imprisoned a major opposition figure, Leopoldo López, along with others. In December 2015, the MUD initially won a two-thirds supermajority in National Assembly elections, a major defeat for the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). The Maduro government subsequently thwarted the legislature’s power by preventing three MUD representatives from taking office (denying the opposition a supermajority) and using the Supreme Court to block bills approved by the legislature. For much of 2016, opposition efforts were focused on recalling President Maduro through a national referendum, but the government slowed down the referendum process and suspended it indefinitely in October. After an appeal by Pope Francis, the government and most of the opposition (with the exception of Leopoldo López’s Popular Will party) agreed to talks mediated by the Vatican along with the former presidents of the Dominican Republic, Spain, and Panama and the head of the Union of South American Nations.
    [Show full text]
  • From Washington Consensus to Inclusive Growth
    Economic & Social Affairs DESA Working Paper No. 100 ST/ESA/2010/DWP/100 November 2010 Growth, Poverty and Inequality: From Washington Consensus to Inclusive Growth Alfredo Saad-Filho Abstract This paper reviews recent economic policy debates about the relationship between growth, poverty and inequality. These debates have tended to focus on whether market-led growth is sufficient to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality, or whether specific policies are necessary because untargeted growth may be insufficient or even perverse. The paper charts the degenerating outcomes of these debates, and the emergence of the inclusive growth (IG) paradigm within the World Bank. A critical examination of IG suggests that its weaknesses are best addressed through a more ambitious restatement of the pro-poor goals of economic policy. JEL Classification: E60 (Macroeconomic Policy), E64 (Incomes Policy, Social Policy), O23 (Fiscal and Monetary Policy in Development) Keywords: Macroeconomic policy, pro-poor policies, inclusive growth, World Bank, Washington Consensus Alfredo Saad-Filho is Professor of Political Economy at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Comments should be addressed by e-mail to the author: [email protected] Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 1. Early poverty debates ....................................................................................................... 2 2. The Washington
    [Show full text]
  • The Beijing Consensus Versus the Washington Consensus: the Dilemma of Chinese Engagement in Africa
    Vol. 12(1), pp. 1-9, January 2018 DOI: 10.5897/AJPSIR2016.0920 Article Number: EA2069655609 African Journal of Political Science and ISSN 1996-0832 Copyright © 2018 International Relations Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/AJPSIR Full Length Research Paper The Beijing consensus versus the Washington consensus: The dilemma of Chinese engagement in Africa Jarso Galchu Department of Civics and Ethical Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Bule Hora University, Ethiopia. Received 7 July, 2016; Accepted 1 September, 2016 This study discusses the reason behind the Chinese hastened engagement in Africa. The study particularly emphasizes debates surrounding such massive involvements from the African, European and Chinese point of view focusing on the main tenets of Washington and Beijing consensuses. The study shows that Beijing consensus has been perceived cynically by traditional western power contending that Chinese involvement in Africa has been built on china’s narrow, and parochial interest of grabbing African’s resources on one hand, and reversing of democratization and human rights improvements taking shape on the continent. The pro- Chinese narratives, on the other hand, argue that Chinese involvement in Africa has been built on the continent’s historical relations with China when fighting colonial imperialism and apartheid system. In addition, it is their shared experiences of humiliation and subjugation at the hand of western imperialist colonial power that coach China and Africa to free their relationship from western style of involvements in one another’s domestic affairs. Africans view Chinese engagement in Africa optimistically as a relief from century-old “civilizing mission” of the former colonial powers.
    [Show full text]
  • Reconsidering the Washington Consensus
    Edited by FONDAD Age Akkerman Jan Joost Teunissen and Wing Thye Woo, Charles Wyplosz and others Choong Yong Ahn, Amar Bhattacharya, Ricardo Ffrench-Davis, Reconsidering the Diversity in Development Stephany Griffith-Jones, José Antonio Ocampo, Yung Chul Park, Yunjong Wang, Washington Consensus Diversity in Development FONDAD Reconsidering the Washington Consensus explores addresses Asia, Latin America and Africa by following – or not – the recipes of the Diversity in Development: Reconsidering the Washington Consensus have led to widespread criticisms. Diversity in Development: Reconsidering the Washington Consensus institutions are equally important, the results of the Consensus are mixed and from a focus on economic liberalisation and privatisation to the recognition that Even though the reform agenda of the Washington Consensus has evolved “Washington Consensus”. institutions like the IMF and World Bank and has become known as the market economic reforms has been actively promoted by international financial The dramatic shift in the 1980s from state-led development to neo-liberal Edited by Jan Joost Teunissen and Age Akkerman Reconsidering the Washington Consensus Diversity in Development: www.fondad.org The Hague, The Netherlands FONDAD sometimes conflicting – views in a refreshing and in-depth manner. Nations. These leading experts on finance and development discuss their – international levels. bankers, and high-level officials of the World Bank, WTO, IMF and United explores how financial stability could be enhanced at both the
    [Show full text]
  • Economic Growth and Inequality: the New Post-Washington Consensus
    RCCS Annual Review A selection from the Portuguese journal Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais 4 | 2012 Issue no. 4 Economic Growth and Inequality: The New Post- Washington Consensus Carlos Lopes Electronic version URL: https://journals.openedition.org/rccsar/426 DOI: 10.4000/rccsar.426 ISSN: 1647-3175 Publisher Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra Electronic reference Carlos Lopes, “Economic Growth and Inequality: The New Post-Washington Consensus”, RCCS Annual Review [Online], 4 | 2012, Online since 01 October 2012, connection on 21 September 2021. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/rccsar/426 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/rccsar.426 © CES RCCS Annual Review, 4, October 2012: 69-85 Carlos Lopes United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Economic Growth and Inequality: The New Post-Washington Consensus* The debate on economic policy has developed significantly in the past decade. The so-called Washington Consensus, which dictated most of the solutions proposed by international financial organizations, began to be questioned when a large number of emerging economies reduced their reliance on multilateral debt. The crisis of 2008 and 2009 accelerated the process of reflection on the prescriptive nature of the policy proposals advocated by monetarists, with their insistence on a uniform view as if all situations were alike. This has been termed ideology, and the ideology associated with the Washington Consensus has failed even in its methodological principles, as clearly demonstrated by the internal debate within organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This article reviews the various internal arguments of the international financial organizations, and provides a critique of preconstructed models involving a return to Keynesian economics.
    [Show full text]