Leture 10 - Expulsion Flashcards
(18 cards)
Welfare state
A welfare state is a model in which the government plays a key role in protecting and promoting the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It typically includes:
Universal healthcare, Public education, Social security and pensions, Unemployment benefits, Progressive taxation. The goal is to reduce inequality, provide a safety net, and ensure a minimum standard of living for all. The welfare-state capitalism is economic growth through mass production and consumption.
Neoliberal capitalism
Neoliberalism is a political-economic philosophy that emerged in the late 20th century, emphasizing: Free markets, Deregulation, Privatization of public services
Reduced government spending,Individual responsibility over collective welfare.
Neoliberal capitalism tends to view the welfare state as inefficient or overly burdensome, advocating instead for market-based solutions and minimal state intervention. The neoliberal capitalism is economic growth through extraction of wealth.
Expulsion
The term expulsion generally refers to the act of forcing someone or something out of a place, group, or institution.
primitive accumulation (Marx)
Primitive accumulation is a concept from Marxist theory, primarily developed by Karl Marx in Capital, Volume I. It refers to the historical process that led to the formation of capitalist economies by separating people from direct access to the means of production (like land, tools, and resources), thereby forcing them to sell their labor to survive.
Externalization society (Lessenich)
The concept of the “externalization society” was developed by German sociologist Stephan Lessenich to describe how affluent societies—particularly in the Global North—maintain their wealth, comfort, and lifestyles by offloading the social, ecological, and economic costs of their way of life onto others, especially in the Global South.
The logic of expulsion 1: Scientific conceptual apparatus was built for another epoch
This means that many of the tools, categories, and models we use to understand the world (especially in economics and political science) were developed in a different historical context—often during the Cold War or the early industrial era. These tools may no longer be adequate for addressing today’s complex global challenges. certain realities are ignored or misrepresented. For example, the environmental damage caused by economic activity is not captured by GDP or by Cold War-era political categories.
The logic of expulsion 2: These misrepresentations are not a coincidence
This text argues that neoliberal capitalism doesn’t just overlook certain people—The way we measure and talk about economic and social issues (like using GDP or unemployment rates) is deliberately structured to hide certain harms. The system is designed to benefit the few while externalizing harm to the many, especially those deemed economically unnecessary.
“Neoliberalism as a ‘savage sorting of winners and losers’’
Neoliberalism promotes market competition, deregulation, and privatization, which leads to a brutal division between those who succeed and those who are left behind.
It naturalizes inequality, making it seem like a result of individual failure rather than systemic design. The “logic of expulsion” is central to this system—it pushes out those who don’t fit or can’t compete.
Primacy of Shareholder Value
The financial sector promotes the idea that the main goal of a corporation is to maximize returns for shareholders. This ideology became central to neoliberalism, which favors deregulation, privatization, and market-driven policies.
The Corporation as a “Nexus of Contracts”
This view sees a corporation not as a social institution, but as a collection of contracts between different parties (e.g., shareholders, managers, workers). It reduces the role of the corporation to a legal and financial mechanism, not a community or public-serving entity.
Principal-Agent Theory
In this theory, shareholders are the “principals” (owners), and corporate managers are the “agents” (employees). The goal is to align managers’ actions with shareholders’ interests—usually through incentives like stock options. This logic gives shareholders the moral and legal right to demand maximum profits, often at the expense of workers, communities, or the environment. Instead of reinvesting profits into innovation, wages, or infrastructure, companies increasingly return profits to shareholders through: Dividends (cash payouts) Stock buybacks (which raise share prices).
Shift from “Retain-and-Reinvest” to “Maximize Shareholder Value
In the past, corporations would retain earnings and reinvest in long-term growth.
Now, under financialized capitalism, the focus is on short-term gains for investors, often leading to: Job cuts, Wage stagnation, Outsourcing, Environmental degradation.
Shareholder value revolution
The shareholder value revolution refers to the transformation of the corporation from a productive, socially embedded institution into a financialized entity whose primary purpose is to maximize returns for shareholders—often at the expense of workers, communities, and long-term investment.
Empowerment of Financial Markets due to shareholder value revolution
Financial markets (investors, analysts, shareholders) now hold significant power over corporations. Companies are under constant pressure to maintain a strong financial reputation to attract investment and keep stock prices high.
Governments Depend on Financial Reputation
Just like corporations, states need to maintain credibility with financial markets to attract investment and avoid capital flight. This means they must appease investors, especially those who buy government bonds.
Streeck: Marktvolk vs. Staatsvolk
Staatsvolk: the citizens of a country, who vote in elections and expect public services.
Marktvolk: the market actors (especially investors), who “vote” with their money by buying or selling government bonds. Governments are caught between democratic accountability to their people and financial accountability to markets.
Primacy of Bondholder Value
Just as corporations prioritize shareholder value, states increasingly prioritize bondholder value. This can lead to austerity, privatization, and cuts to social spending to maintain a good credit rating.
Governmental Incentive for Expulsion
To appear fiscally responsible, governments may manipulate statistics or exclude certain populations from official data. This is a form of expulsion—not physical removal, but statistical invisibility.
