Private Interest Over Public Good In Development And Social Change By Philip Mcmichael

Private Interest Over Public Good
In Development and Social Change, Philip McMichael describes the “development project” as the Global North’s strategy of political intervention into the countries of the Global South, rooted in an attention to social welfare and the belief that markets were “servants” to the states. However, he argues that in the 1980s, the viewpoint of the “globalization project” emerged in its place, creating new barriers to development by intensifying social inequalities in favor of increasing economic stabilization. McMichael conceives the “globalization project” as simply a new way of thinking about development: the perception of the world as a global market in which countries are interdependent, and corporate rights reign
Because of these financial interests, the economy of countries became globally managed and organized. A focus on aid in the development project shifted to a focus on liberalized trade, and development was now seen as successful integration into the world market. Instead of growing the domestic market, export-oriented industrialization became the standard. This export-oriented industrialization caused countries of the Global South to be reliant on Northern technology and financing for economic success, increasing the connectedness of national markets. In order to advance their economies, globalization-era policies focused on cutting government spending, including of welfare and social protection of its citizens. Social equality is now defined as equality of opportunity, and this reframing, though it may increase national economic prosperity, causes barriers to human
SAP involves implementation of the IMF’s conditions in exchange for a loan. Countries accepting a SAP are usually in an economic crisis, so the policies that they agree to implement focus on efficiency by drastically lowering real wages and government spending. Other common adjustment measures include currency devaluation and the privatization of state enterprises. To shrink the state through the reduction of public spending, governments decreased funding of food, health care, education, transportation, and housing services. This disproportionately affected the poor, who relied on these services and spent a larger portion of their income on necessities like food; poverty and malnourishment only increased (Class notes). From 1976 to 1992, around 146 riots took place in 39 of the 80 countries affected by SAP policies to protest the lack of attention to social welfare (McMichael, p. 119). After implementing a SAP in Zambia, they saw a successful liberalization of their economy, but a poverty rate of around 70 percent, making it difficult to determine whether the SAP helped or hurt the country (Class notes). Also, these countries, already in debt, were expected to decrease imports and increase exports, which was ultimately unsustainable and only further increased dependence on Northern investment and