Globalization and Inequality

Has the far-reaching experiment in creating a new world order along neoliberal lines succeeded? John Rapley answers with an emphatic no, contending that the rosy picture painted by neoliberal proponents of globalization was based on false assumptions. True, Rapley acknowledges, neoliberal reforms often did generate economic growth - but at a price. The resulting increase in inequality led to political instability and spawned tendencies ranging from right-wing populism to renewed ethnic and Islamic militancy. Rapley offers a range of cases to illustrate how neoliberal globalization has helped to destroy regimes in the developing world by profoundly altering patterns of income distribution and resource allocation. The political tensions unleashed by these regime crises, he argues, are now being manifested around the globe, with the negative consequences still to be fully realized.