Research Notes on Neoliberal Globalization and Unemployment Since the 1970s and 1980s

Abstract

Neoliberalism is related in different levels to the force and authoritarianism that the market -and related sectors- are able to mobilize. For neoliberals, democracy is a problem and a historical reality that should be disciplined to satisfy the demands of the market. These research notes raise some elements of discussion about the implementation of the neoliberal program during the 1970s and 1980s concerning the process of capitalist globalization. Both central and peripheral capitalism experienced the intensity of new policies focused on the protection of private companies and individual initiative in different ways. These policies displaced the objectives of full employment and policies of social welfare. This deployment can be observed in societies as different as Chile and Federal Germany from the mid-1970s to the 1980s. The German case demonstrates that democracy can constrain neoliberalism, whereas in Chile the dictatorship played a fundamental role in propagating neoliberal policies.