The Efficacy or Ethics of Globalisation: Capitalism and Social Welfare. A South African Perspective
Globalisation as a force has encroached on the lives of people throughout the developed and developing world. South Africa as a developing country is part of this global village, and has to contend as other developing countries, with the multi-dimensional demands of globalisation. Globalisation may be defined as: A process of global integration in which diverse peoples, economies, cultures, and political processes are increasingly subjected to international influences and people are made aware of the role of these influences in their everyday lives (Midgley, 1997:21).
The terrain of globalisation is contested by a multiplicity of perspectives. Moon and Yang (2002:132)propose three contending perspectives with regard to globalisation and welfare: the cornucopian, the globaphobic and the contextualist. These perspectives range from mainstream neoclassical economists' thinking that globalisation is a linear process of global convergence propelled by market forces, to neo-liberal reforms, to that of welfare states being able to maintain some semblance of autonomy in regulating their economies.
Given all these differing perspectives, developing countries have been encouraged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to pursue prudent fiscal policies, reduce the deficit, and promote economic growth. This neo-liberal policy of pursuing structural adjustment programmes has had consequences for domestic welfare policy. Proponents of the "work fare" ethic are challenging the values that are key to social welfare. In South Africa, the commitment to the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP)with principles of altruism and concern for the poor, were replaced by the focus on liberalizing the economy, promoting economic growth and the free flow of trade and industry. These political and economic decisions have both overt and covert consequences regarding hegemonic relationships and power differentials.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the discourse on globalisation, the efficacy and ethics of globalisation, its consequences for developing countries, in particular South Africa, and social welfare's response to the consequences of globalisation.