Week 4-Blog
Yazan Al-Thibeh 100920850
This week’s articles articulated about neoliberalism and how western ideologies are not helping in the development and growth of African cities and businesses. The articles expresses how capitalistic companies such as coco-cola and Avon abuse Africa’s land, labour and capital, to utilize and promote the selling of goods to the world. Due to a lack of governance within the African boarders companies would be able to impulse on the abstraction of resources, including cheap labour, in order to find ways to cut costs and increase revenue. This leaves extreme polarization between those who are wealthy, the westerners, and those who are poor, the Africans. What these neoliberal companies do is move their industrial and manufacturing sections to nations that have cheap labour. Also, in the Lynn Thomas article, it mentioned that wealth in Africa grew only to people from South Africa, where majority of them are white. Lynn Thomas discusses how the Koch brothers grew their popularity and wealth since they were privileged white South Africans. Also the article discuss how the skin lighting industry is booming in African nations, since people want lighter skin. Many Africans who indulge into this product are those who practice the western ideologies of neoliberalism, and how they want to act like westerns. On page 264 the author notes how skin lighters did not start becoming popular until the 1970s, until black South Africans wanted the same skin colour as the white South Africans. In Dolan and Roll article, they express how the poor can shift and drive the economy. Where corporations market and push products to be sold to the poor demographics. Where many of the corporations are promoting the neoliberal economic concept of bottom of the pyramid economics, the idea of providing economic opportunities for the poor. However I think this model only expands the growth of the corporations in Africa merely helping those who are wealthy. Also, the article notes how large corporations like Coco-cola are in the African market to promote and expand their market share. They noted that the growth for these goods also needs an expansion and governance over waste and pollution. This makes one wonder who will govern the adverse selection and moral hazard wastes that consumers and the multinational corporations have committed.
I found the Dolan and Roll article the most fascinating, since it talked about companies like coco-cola, P&G and Avon, on how they are applying neoliberalism into African nations. On page 126, the authors note how these companies are generating jobs for the poor, however these companies promote neoliberal ideologies that hurt the economy.
Discussion Questions
How does neoliberalism shape and construct the market for the poor?
Do you think these multinational corporations should help out in human and economic development in these African nations?
Do you think there should be regulation and better governance for multinational corporations that try to abstract the resources within the nation?
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