Is neoliberalism bad for your health?
The nature of public debate is sometimes surprising for those exploring economics; while it's good to discuss beliefs and dogmas, certain ideologies rarely seem to be the subject of much debate: such is the case with neoliberalism.
Ousama Bouiss, University of Paris Dauphine - PSL and Florence Rodhain, University of Montpellier
While the so-called "liberal" mentality, characteristic of the rationalist Enlightenment tradition, places the principles of freedom, equality, solidarity and democracy at the heart of the texts of our Constitution, an ideology seems to have "stealthily" (in the words of political scientist Wendy Brown) led its revolution. This neoliberal ideology, based on a form of generalized market rationality, is well known to management researchers.
To understand "neoliberalism", Alain Supiot begins his analysis by reading the Declaration of Philadelphia, adopted on May 10, 1944 by the General Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO). This liberal-inspired text, aimed at capitalizing on the achievements of the New Deal implemented by Roosevelt in the United States, seeks to offer a counter-model to the ideology of human beings as resources. The declaration promotes social justice and is based on the defense of the four fundamental freedoms proclaimed by Roosevelt: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear. What's more, the ILO sets itself the goal of supporting public programs to enable workers to access "occupations in which they have the satisfaction of giving the fullest measure of their ability and knowledge, and of making the best possible contribution to the common welfare".
The advent of competition
However, as Supiot observes, while the spirit of this declaration makes it possible to place social justice at the heart of reflections on work, a "great reversal" has led to the installation of neo-liberal ideology. Its first characteristic is to consider human beings as resources that can be organized and managed by the laws of science. In this way, work is seen as a commodity, democracy is abandoned in favor of market laws, and social justice is replaced by competition. According to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, at the institutional level, "a Darwinian world of struggle of all against all, at all levels of the hierarchy, is established, which finds the mainsprings of adherence to the task and to the company in insecurity, suffering and stress".
Are we personally suffering from neoliberal ideology?
This last statement by the famous sociologist echoes a recent study conducted by a team of social psychology researchers and published in The British Journal of Social Psychology. Although neoliberalism has become the dominant ideology par excellence on the planet, there has been little empirical research into its impact on the psyche. Researchers have been able to demonstrate that neoliberalism, by endorsing and seeking to increase the spirit of competition, while reducing the feeling of being connected to others, increases the sense of solitude that leads to malaise... and therefore impacts health.
Previous research has shown that social isolation, loneliness (experienced rather than chosen) and living alone are among the most powerful determinants of mortality. Other research has shown that loneliness is linked to stress hormones, and impacts on healthy immune and cardiovascular function. Loneliness - when it is suffered rather than chosen - therefore has a major impact on health. By favoring it, neoliberalism impacts human health. Of course, the subjective quality of social ties is just as important as their quantity.
The authors explain that neoliberalism promotes and values individualism, and thus impacts health through two related mechanisms. The first is the notion of the individual as an entrepreneur in competition with others, who must ensure his or her own personal development. Responsibility for success rests solely on the shoulders of the isolated individual; this breaks the chains of solidarity, reduces well-being, and increases feelings of insecurity, anxiety, stress and depression.
Moreover, neoliberalism distances individuals from group life and its potential healing effects. Belonging to and being supported by one or more groups, and possessing a strong sense of social identity, are the basis of social and psychological resources that help to improve health.
Are the democratic foundations of our collective life under threat?
However, such an approach seems insufficient for UC Berkeley political theorist Wendy Brown, who sees neoliberalism as a "stealth revolution". In her book Undoing the Demosshe shows how neoliberal ideology was constructed through the synthesis of economic thought (derived from Austro-Germanordoliberalism and the Chicago Monetarist School) and its "stealth" implementation. For Brown, the main characteristic of neoliberalism is not the competitive ideal as the superior logic for regulating the social world, but rather the idea that this competition must be produced by the state. As a result, "growth is the raison d'État of the State".
This then leads to the gradual spread of the competitive logic to the management of public affairs, and a strengthening of authoritarianism. As a result, "public life is reduced to problem-solving and program implementation - a conception that brackets or eliminates politics, conflict and deliberation about shared values and ends". What's more, for both Wendy Brown and Alain Supiot, neoliberal ideology contributes to a weakening of the law, which is itself subject to economic logics. For Supiot:
"Therule of law is thus replaced by lawshopping, so that the law is placed under the aegis of a utility calculation, instead of the economic calculation being placed under the aegis of the law.
A law against neoliberal "separatism"?
The various scientific studies cited in this article support economist Joseph Stiglitz's conclusion: "Neoliberal fundamentalism is a political doctrine at the service of private interests, not based on economic theory. It is now clear that it is not based on historical experience either. This is the only lesson to be learned from the threat to the global economy. What should we do with this lesson? A law to combat "neoliberal separatism"? Indeed, there is no shortage of researchers who have worked on this subject. A few works by eminent scientists from a variety of disciplines show us the risks that neoliberalism poses to our individual and social health.
For Alain Supiot, jurist, philosopher and professor at the Collège de France, a possible solution lies in the reform of labor law. In the face of the information revolution, neoliberalism has revealed its inability to offer standards for the organization of collective life capable of meeting the challenges of social justice and equality. The challenge is to "establish a certain economic democracy, without which political democracy can only continue to wither away". To achieve this, he calls for "giving everyone greater autonomy and responsibility in the conduct of their working lives, through new forms of security".
Finally, according to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, "it is in reality the permanence or survival of the institutions and agents of the old order in the process of being dismantled, and all the work of all categories of social workers, and also all the social solidarities, familial or otherwise, that ensure that the social order does not collapse into chaos despite the growing volume of the precarious population". Resistance to neoliberal ideology could thus involve the formation of "collectives oriented towards the rational pursuit of collectively elaborated and approved ends".
In short, as proposed by Wendy Brown and many others before her, such as the philosopher Bertrand Russell and the novelist George Orwell: a radical return to democracy that would necessarily subject market rationality to a democratic rationality that would subordinate governance by deliberation to governance by numbers; competition for profit to the confrontation of reasons for truth and the common good.
Ousama Bouiss, PhD student in strategy and organization theory, Université Paris Dauphine - PSL and Florence Rodhain, HDR Senior Lecturer in Information Systems, University of Montpellier
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.