Neoliberalism in Practice: Two Cases

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Neoliberalism in Practice Two Cases
Privatization of Water in Bolivia Who leases the
rain? (NOW film) The Cruise Ship Industry global
ization at sea?
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Neoliberalism in Practice I Privatization of
Water in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Water War in Bolivia Leasing the Rain (Bill
Moyers NOW, 2002)
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Neoliberalism in Practice II The Cruise Industry
What is the basic point of the paper?
What is the double meaning of globalization at
Sea?
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Neoliberal Globalization The Cruise Ship Industr
y as a Paradigmatic Case presentation at
theAmerican Sociological AssociationMontreal,
August 2006
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Freedom of the Seas, currently the worlds
largest cruise ship (3634 passengers)
Cruise ships as microcosms of globalization
The cruise industry as the paradigmatic case of
neoliberal globalization
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Globalization is at sea
Flag of Convenience Sun Vista sinks in the
Straits of Malacca in 1999
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(No Transcript)
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Some Advertising Themes
Fantasy Luxury and Pampering Private Islands
Marketing of Crew Ethnicity Stratification of
Cruise Lines
The ship is the destination
1914 advertisement
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Globalization as a Process
deterritorialization
Globalization as a Project
neoliberalism
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Deterritorialization and the Cruise Industry
floating chunks of capital that can be rapidly
repositioned size has removed the traditional li
mits of shipsfloating full-scale resorts
connections between ship and sailing region have
become virtually non-existent
ship design and inward orientation away from the
sea private islands Both place of incorporatio
n and flag registry are independent of where
company HQ are located and where ships go
Port country laws do not apply at sea
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Neoliberal Globalization and the Cruise Industry
the neoliberal globalization project
incorporates and reshapes compatible preexisting
institutions the flag of convenience system
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Neoliberal Globalization and the Cruise Industry
2) neoliberal globalization promotes the
privatization of global governance
Voluntary codes of conduct MOUs Governanc
e by international organizations mostly avoided
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Globalization at Sea Outcomes of a Paradigmatic C
ase
Rapid growth Extreme corporate concentration
Monopolistic bargaining power with port states
minimizes development benefits
An uneven playing field with competing modes of
tourisma race to the bottom
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Globalization at Sea Outcomes of a Paradigmatic C
ase
An industry that almost entirely escapes
meaningful regulation Avoids most taxes and oth
er normal business expenses Pays wages and engag
es in employment practices that would be illegal
on land almost anywhere Both escapes and prevent
s meaningful environmental and labor standards
and regulation Voluntary and privatized environm
ental governance has little effect
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Globalization at Sea Outcomes of a Paradigmatic C
ase
A workplace both paramilitary and lawless
Virtually no worker rights Racial and etkhnic
discrimination common Coercive exchange of sexu
al favors and bribes is widespread
Indirect encouragement to lower-level management
to violate environmental and other laws
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Counter reactions have emerged
grassroots movements organizational campaigns
assertion of port state control
anti-terrorism concerns But national responses h
ave serious limitations
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Some Concluding Notes
Neoliberal globalization doesnt just impose
its own agenda it exploits and reshapes
preexisting processes and institutions
The cruise industry may be the first to have
created a truly global labor force at bottom
tier Its institutional structure promotes a race
to the bottom in terms of meaningful regulation
in virtually all areas National remedies are ine
ffective only meaningful global governance can
change the system.
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Globalization is at sea, but how far this extreme
form of deterritorialized, neoliberal
globalization will spread remains unknown
This paper may be downloaded from my homepage at
http//www.camden.rutgers.edu/wood/