Varieties of neoliberalism within the Post-Cold War period : economic policy in the Post-Apartheid South Africa

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis describes the development of neoliberalism within the global context and explainshow this ideology influenced economic policy formulation in post-apartheid South Africa.Policies from the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) to the New EconomicGrowth Path (NEGP) are analysed within the timeframe from 1996 to 2011 to determine howand whether neoliberalism had an impact on policy formulation.The development of neoliberal thinking is historicised to illustrate how it became thedominant ideational framework at the world order level. This was a path dependent processwhich is traced at the social, institutional and ideational levels. The establishment of the MontPelerin Society, the development of the post-Second World War economic order and thedevelopment and implementation of the Washington Consensus are important aspects of acounter-ideational challenge to Keynesianism which took place over some 25 years. Therationale behind neoliberalism and the implementation of neoliberal policies is stronglymotivated by assumptions such as private property rights, deregulation of trade, finance andproduction and a form of state which facilitates market dominant policies.Neoliberalism strongly came to prominence during the 1970s and 1980s. During this timeincreased pressure was placed on the South African apartheid government from outside andinside to implement more market-orientated or neoliberal economic policies. It becameincreasingly evident that South Africa's isolation to economic globalisation was notsustainable. At the time of the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) and therelease of Nelson Mandela in 1990, the ANC did not have a clearly formulated economicprogramme. Neoliberal thinking gradually gained in influence among ANC leaders andpolicy makers and after the party resoundingly won the 1994 elections, it seemed thatneoliberal thinking became well established, albeit with some important variations anddistinctive characteristics.The Growth, Employment and Redistribution programme did not fully achieve its primarygoals of employment creation and redistribution, although a period of economic growth(2002-2006) did follow the first phase of its implementation. This led to a rethink and reevaluationof economic policy, particularly after the global financial crisis (2007-2009). Thefirst 'rethink led to the adoption of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for SouthAfrica (AsgiSA). This shift is regarded by some analysts as an economic transition period from GEAR to a more developmentalist and interventionist policy, but is, in fact,characterised by continuity and is in line with the World Bank's post-Washington consensusthinking. This period is also characterised by internal tensions within the ANC and theleadership struggle between Jacob Zuma and Thabo Mbeki (the incumbent president andarchitect of GEAR), Zuma's victory was regarded as a victory for the left, but was followedby minor concessions and more continuity in policy, notwithstanding the launching of theNEGP in 2011 which spells out some goals for democratising and restructuring the economy.The study concludes that neoliberalism had a unique influence on economic policyformulation in South Africa even though it was not a pure reflection of neoliberal policies.Economic policy formulation in South Africa has undergone constant change and adaptationand reflects the shifting balance of power between the major social forces related toproduction and finance in the country. At the rhetorical level, policy seems to be moving inthe direction of a democratic developmental state and this needs to be viewed within thecontext of the circumstances which led to the development of the RDP, GEAR and theNEGP.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University