The 'necessary myth' of globalization: The Washington Consensus and the limits of neoliberalism
General Material Designation
[Thesis]
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
University of Manitoba (Canada): Canada
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
: 2008
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
121 pages
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
M.A.
Body granting the degree
, University of Manitoba (Canada): Canada
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
The process of globalization has come to represent a variety of things to a variety of groups. Both supporters and opponents of globalization have attributed various characteristics of the current global environment to globalization; even while there is no universally accepted definition of the term.This thesis attempts to demythologize globalization by arguing that it is ideologies and not globalization which determines the characteristics and dynamics of any environment. This will be done by examining the neoliberal inspired Washington Consensus which was imposed on numerous nations in the developing world after the global oils shocks of the 1970s. The Washington Consensus' policies did not produce favourable results in any of the locations in which they were applied. These negatives effects were not due to globalization but rather due to limitations ingrained within neoliberalism.Examining the theoretical foundations of neoliberalism will isolate the transformative elements ideologies possess from the technical process of globalization. This is not to argue that globalization is not transformative, rather that it is just far less capable of manipulating the social, political and economic dynamics of any environment in the way ideologies can.