SOC 212 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Homo Economicus, Neoliberalism
Document Summary
Giroux (from reading) says there are trends that should be worrying us. We are moving away from critical learning and even informing citizens. The rights of citizenship: right to assemble, right to hold office, right to vote, right to freedom of speech, equality before the law, right to organize. Rosa parks: an individual who did an individual act, but actually part of a larger organization. Unions: one of the most influential ways to change the government. Smaller percentage of population is in unions (an example of decreased degree of organization) A symptom of decline in democracy the main driver of the threat to unions is neoliberalism. Neoliberalism promotes a free-market economy: fewer regulations on goods across borders, removal of tariffs, barriers, subsidies, less regulation of banks and financial markets, fewer environmental restrictions. The economic market is the best way to organize our relationships between one anoth- er/human affairs. Therefore, we should make decisions based solely on economic logic.
