ABSTRACT
In the opening chapter of Section II, entitled “Neoliberal Globalization: Social Welfare Policy and Institutions,” Michael Holosko and John Barner argue that neoliberal globalization has been the guiding paradigm for the U.S. social welfare regime for the last 15 years. This paradigm is characterized by a supraterritorial organization of social relations and transactions across political and geographical regions and networks that are best handled by privatized and deregulated markets, decentralized governance, global capitalism, and elite global networks. Holosko and Barner conclude that neoliberal globalization presents a turn away from the traditional model of state-supported interventions towards market-based interventions focused on efficiency and material welfare, often at the expense of cultural, ecological, economic, political, and social benefits. This turn, they continue, is incongruent with the customary ethical stance advocated by social welfare professionals because it has contributed to human insecurity, income inequality, poverty, and precarious labor.
