Is neoliberalism bad for your health?
The nature of public debates is sometimes surprising to those exploring economics; while it is good to discuss beliefs and dogmas, certain ideologies rarely seem to be the subject of major debates: this is the case with neoliberalism.
Ousama Bouiss, Paris Dauphine University – PSL and Florence Rodhain, University of Montpellier
While the so-called "liberal" mindset, characteristic of the rationalist tradition of the Enlightenment, places the principles of freedom, equality, solidarity, and democracy at the heart of our Constitution, an ideology seems to have "sneakily" (in the words of political scientist Wendy Brown) carried out its revolution. This neoliberal ideology, based on a form of generalized market rationality, is well known to management researchers.
First, to understand "neoliberalism," Alain Supiot suggests beginning the analysis by reading the Declaration of Philadelphia adopted on May 10, 1944, by the General Conference of the International Labor Organization (ILO). This liberal-inspired text, which aims to build on the achievements of Roosevelt's New Deal in the United States, seeks to offer a counter-model to the ideology of humans as resources. The declaration promotes social justice and is based on the defense of four fundamental freedoms proclaimed by Roosevelt: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Furthermore, the ILO aims to support public programs in order to enable workers to access "occupations where they can find satisfaction in giving full play to their skills and knowledge and contribute best to the common good."
The advent of competition
However, as Supiot notes, while the spirit of this declaration places social justice at the heart of discussions on work, a "major shift" has led to the establishment of neoliberal ideology. Its primary characteristic is to view humans as a resource that can be organized and managed according to the laws of science. Thus, work is thought of as a commodity and democracy is abandoned in favor of market laws, social justice in favor of competition. According to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, at the institutional level, this led to the establishment of "a Darwinian world of everyone fighting against everyone else, at all levels of the hierarchy, where commitment to work and the company is driven by insecurity, suffering, and stress."
Do we personally suffer from neoliberal ideology?
This latest statement by the renowned 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 across the globe, there has been little empirical research into its impact on the psyche. The researchers were able to demonstrate that neoliberalism, by promoting and seeking to increase competitiveness while reducing the feeling of connection to others, increases feelings of loneliness, which leads to unhappiness... and therefore impacts health.
Previous research had already shown that social isolation, loneliness (imposed rather than chosen), and living alone are among the most powerful determinants of mortality. Other studies have shown that loneliness is linked to stress hormones and impacts immune and cardiovascular function. Loneliness—when it is imposed rather than chosen—therefore has a major impact on health. By promoting it, neoliberalism impacts human health. Of course, the subjective quality of social ties is also important, beyond their quantity.
Neoliberalism promotes and values individualism and therefore impacts health through two related mechanisms, the authors explain. The first is the view of the individual as an entrepreneur competing with others, who must ensure their own personal development. The 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.
Furthermore, neoliberalism distances individuals from group life and its potential healing effects. Indeed, belonging to one or more groups, being supported by them, and having a strong sense of social identity are the basis of social and psychological resources that help improve health.
Are the democratic foundations of our collective life under threat?
However, this approach seems insufficient for political theorist Wendy Brown of the University of California, Berkeley, who views neoliberalism as a "stealth revolution." In her book Undoing the Demos, she shows how neoliberal ideology was constructed through the synthesis of economic thinking (derived from Austro-Germanordoliberalism and the Chicago monetarist school) and its "stealthy" 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. From then on, "growth is the raison d'état of the state."
This then leads to the gradual spread of competitive logic to the management of public affairs and a strengthening of authoritarianism. Thus, "public life is reduced to problem solving and program implementation—a conception that sidelines or eliminates politics, conflict, and deliberation about shared values and ends." Furthermore, for Wendy Brown and Alain Supiot, neoliberal ideology contributes to a weakening of the law, which is itself subject to economic logic. According to Supiot:
"The rule of law is thus replaced bylaw shopping, so that the law is placed under the aegis of utility calculations, rather than economic calculations being placed under the aegis of the law."
A law against neoliberal "separatism"?
The various scientific studies cited in this article reinforce economist Joseph Stiglitz's conclusion: "Neoliberal fundamentalism is a political doctrine that serves private interests; it is not based on economic theory. It is now clear that it is not based on historical experience either. This lesson is the only benefit to be gained from the threat to the global economy." What should we do with this lesson? Pass a law to combat "neoliberal separatism"? Indeed, there is no shortage of researchers who have worked on this subject. The few studies by eminent scientists from various disciplines clearly show us the risks that neoliberalism poses to our individual and social health.
For Alain Supiot, lawyer, philosopher, and professor at the Collège de France, one possible solution lies in reforming labor law. In the face of the IT revolution, neoliberalism has revealed its inability to provide standards for organizing collective life that are capable of responding to the challenges of social justice and equality. The challenge is therefore to "establish a certain economic democracy, without which political democracy will only continue to decline." To this end, he calls for efforts to "give everyone more autonomy and responsibility in the conduct of their working lives, through new forms of security."
Finally, according to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, "it is in fact the permanence or survival of institutions and agents of the old order that is in the process of being dismantled, and all the work of all categories of social workers, as well as all forms of social, family, and other solidarity, that prevent the social order from collapsing into chaos despite the growing number of people living in precarious conditions." Thus, resistance to neoliberal ideology could take the form of "collectives oriented toward the rational pursuit of collectively developed and approved goals."
In short, as Wendy Brown and many others before her, such as philosopher Bertrand Russell and novelist George Orwell, have proposed: a radical return to democracy that would necessarily subject market rationality to democratic rationality, which would subordinate governance by numbers to governance by deliberation; competition for profit to the confrontation of reasons for truth and the common good.
Ousama Bouiss, PhD student in strategy and organizational theory, Paris Dauphine University – PSL and Florence Rodhain, Senior Lecturer in Information Systems, University of Montpellier
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Readthe original article.