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The Neoliberal Paradigm And Its Social Challenges

Posted on:2014-12-07Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:L P P h i l i p p e W e r n Full Text:PDF
GTID:2256330395494592Subject:International politics
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
When we see the title there may be a contradiction in terms as it departs from highly abstract thoughts, which are contrasted with concrete cases. Now, to understand our case of study it is necessary to break down the notions. So we have identified3key concepts, which once they are achieved, we could develop the survey in itself.First of all we highlighted the notion of Paradigm. For this, we took the description of T. Khun, which in a general way it points to be a matrix of thinking, which provides epistemological answers to a determined society within specific time and space. We can say that a paradigm has a biological development:the rise, the climax, and the fall. Nevertheless, within its development, a paradigm can have several cycles that define its progression through time.As Neoliberalism, we took it like a direct reinvention of the Liberal paradigm. It is then a rebirth due to a cyclical behavior within the biological development. This matrix is founded on notions such as:Constitutionalism, Liberal Democracy, Free Trade, Interdependence and Globalization. The WC demarks the spreading point of this paradigm.Finally, Social Challenges are understood as Social Movements, which manifests their claims against some Neoliberal States and that actually nowadays, are having more international attention and interconnection. Nevertheless we should clarified that this does not mean that special case will explain others by their own domestic problems.Maybe we can be related with all those terms by separately however, it is a matter of fact that after the literature review we couldn’t find a specific theory that may fit to the development this paper. Hence, The Exploratory Study gave us the proper way to develop this thesis. Besides this investigation will open the door for further surveys.This kind of research helped to develop our theoretical framework according to the following research questions: · May the challenges of the Liberal paradigm offer an opportunity to make it more functional and allow it to continue trough time as the main model within IR?· Which are the main problems of the Chilean Education and how are they related to the Neoliberal paradigm?· Are social movements, and specifically the Chilean case, challenging the Neoliberal paradigm?In this paper and its methodological approach, we proved that Liberalism has cyclically gone through some critical periods at an international level. This fact far from leading to the collapse of the paradigm, has even strengthen it after eventually launching new Neoliberal reforms, not only in these countries where a liberal agenda was already being implemented, but also in other areas of geopolitical relevance. The Neoliberal paradigm, taken as a revival of the Liberalism due to this cyclical behavior, has been spread all over the world; but nowadays, the social disaffection to this matrix has put it in a critical point.It was necessary to analyze the current situation of the (Neo) Liberal Paradigm regarding the social movements in the context of the globalization process, and its relationship with the economic model associated with it, and its impact on education as a reflection of a possible wane of Neoliberal paradigm. So, for this study, our primary objective is to present a survey that may guide us in a satisfactory analysis and interpretation of the Chilean education revolt in2011, in connection with the Neoliberal paradigm. Therefore, we will consider the aims and aspirations of the Chilean student’s protest in2011, and how this movement is challenging the Neoliberal order imposed upon the arrival of the military dictatorship, and with were not questioned by the subsequent democratic governments.We argued that the Liberal paradigm has faced critical points that represented serious challenges. The fall of the Bretton Woods system and the External Debt crises jeopardized the whole structure of the paradigm. However, we stand that the strategic changes applied in order to keep up with the paradigm and, therefore, the structure of IR, represented its revival in the1990’s with Washington Consensus. Those cyclical behaviors show that, if on one hand history tells us that paradigm are not lineal nor circular (as Fukuyama would propose) on the other hand there are cycles that define their development.We have chosen Chilean Student’s revolts because this country was the very first experiment of the Neoliberal school in the1980’s, and all the reforms implemented changed its inner order and even provided some examples or frameworks to others countries. Hence, this case is especially relevant, since the IR could never be a stable branch of the Political Science without the construction of Domestic Politics. So, there is an evident link between International and Domestic studies, and that is why we chose this case as the base of our study.In this thesis we surveyed the factors involved within the social movements and the students’protests and in which manner those manifestations are the result of the dissatisfaction, with an economic model taken by several countries after the wane of one of the most important political, historical, economic and social paradigms in IR, the USSR. Therefore, this research aimed to demonstrate that the Neoliberal system is being challenged after several movements, and especially in Chile with the student’s revolts, and at the same time, that this paradigm should make some structural changes to avoid the down fall. Besides, we considered that the Neoliberal system has the Globalization on its side, and therefore an actual falling down of this matrix is improbable.We also offered a new theoretical frame that may foster new surveys in the future for other similar events elsewhere and may open the possibility for new hypothesis. We cannot predict the outcome of the Chilean revolution and how far students will go in their claims and challenges against the Neoliberal status quo either in Chile or in the world. However, considering the cyclical behavior of the Liberal paradigm from1947(Bretton Wood System) up to now, we can manage the following three different scenarios:a) The Neoliberal Paradigm will not fall notwithstanding any circumstance that points its failure. b) The Neoliberalism will prevail as the main paradigm within IR. However, it will necessary have to rearrange itself from inside. c) A total collapse of this paradigmatic matrix. This situation supposes the rise or creation of a new Paradigm.
Keywords/Search Tags:Neoliberal
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