{"id":105771,"date":"2020-08-22T14:11:02","date_gmt":"2020-08-22T21:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=105771"},"modified":"2020-08-22T14:11:02","modified_gmt":"2020-08-22T21:11:02","slug":"presidents-job-initiative-and-his-development-paradigm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/08\/22\/presidents-job-initiative-and-his-development-paradigm\/","title":{"rendered":"President’s Job Initiative and His Development Paradigm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr D.Chandraratna<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

It comes as no surprise that with the change of government we have;\nunobtrusively it may be, moved on to a different political platform\/perspective.\nBriefly stated there appears a shift from the more aggressive neo- liberalism\nof 2015, towards a reluctant form of socialism. Not quite to the centre of that\nparadigm yet, but trending in that direction.  Because this perspective has not evolved into\na consistent whole, the term ideology may not yet be the appropriate\nterminology. Traditionally in the neoliberal ideology the concept of choice\nmattered most but to the radical socialist left it was  ‘circumstance’, or in popular parlance it was\nclass inequality the central theme. To the socialists the default position\nalways came back to minimizing class disparities. It was obvious that much of\nthe agenda of the West engineered 2015 regime was freedom of choice and the\ncompacts, trade agreements, sales MOU’s, signed and unsigned, harboured this\nideology. In keeping with this ideology some of their stalwarts often stressed\nsecularism and political correctness while many in the opposition thought such extreme\nliberality undermined the spiritual values of Sri Lankan society leading to a breakdown\nin civility, individual morality and family life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is in this backdrop that we see the initiative moved by the new\npresident in his manifesto of jobs for the poorest as the initial step in his\ndevelopment paradigm. On the face of it is similar to the ideology of New\nSocial Democracy (NSD) that British labour party of Tony Blair proposed on the\nadvice of his top policy advisor in Anthony Giddens named the Third Way? The\n‘Third Way’ went awry with the USA led conflict in the Middle East and had an\nearly death. Left leaning social democrats are those who desire to bring\ncapitalist economies under some form of state control with reforms which are\nambitious and interventionist than those favoured by the supporters of the ‘Capitalism\nwith a human face’, the slogan that Chandrika Bandaranaike preferred. The New\nSocial Democracy comes as a more confident form of leftism with the exhaustion\nof Keynesian welfare and the ascendancy of populist right wing ideas in the West.\nIf in Sri Lanka one were to label it as Nationalist Social Democracy (NSD) it\nwill be closer to reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NSD can be described as radical pragmatism, a means of\ncountering the neo liberal hegemony. This is taking shape as the future of the\nleft at this moment in time. The street marches and cancel culture moves are\ndifferent strands in this project, struggling to gain its philosophical\nconfidence and yet to form into a cohesive whole. Its emergence was in the\n1990’s as a reaction to the American thrust of the global free market, seen in\nglobal protests at G8 forums but was stymied by the political upheavals in the\nMiddle East and the rise of China as a world power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many in the left have understood that the NSD is going to be the\nnext big thing in western politics. Not particularly reliant on class analysis\nthe NSD lays emphasis on social exclusion and freedoms of the lower classes as\nthe most serious impediment to social justice. But it also has a caveat and\nthat is its necessity to <\/p>\n\n\n\n

exist within the free market. When the ‘Third Way’ was suggested as an\napproach to positive social welfare based upon the notion of ‘life politics’ it\nmeant enabling people to shape their lives with self-confidence and self\ncontrol while being active in the economy. This is the social democracy of the\nThird Way that implies inclusion of the poor in society’s way of life rather\nthan direct redistribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tapping Capabilities and Freedoms<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a political perspective that has resonance with Amartya Sen’s\nnotion of social development through participation and freedom. One sure method\nof development, Sen noted, is to make development a friendly process. We have\nbeen used to the slogan of development as a fierce process of ‘blood sweat and\ntears’ in which the poor are asked to tighten their belts much to their\ndespair. By allowing people to participate in the process of development\nthrough economic activity development is made friendly. Economic power is\nenhancing freedoms and minimizing deprivations. The importance of this\ninstrumental freedom is that it helps the person to enhance his capabilities\nand freedoms in the other political, social and security guarantees already\nprovided by the state. When the individual is provided education, health care\nand so on it enlarges the capabilities of individuals and society generally.\nThe so called East Asian miracle we saw in our neighbouring countries in South\nAsia was to a great extent a result of opening up freedoms and capitalising on\nthe untapped potential of capabilities in the population argues Amartya Sen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The job maker initiative by the new President is only one segment of\nthe emerging perspective. There are other elements that characterize the new philosophy.\nWhile liberalism espoused free market individualism the new variant is\nsomewhere between state collectivism and free market, permitting an economic\nand political flexibility that utilizes the strengths of both public and\nprivate. The titles adorning many of the state ministries that some people are\nmocking at are exactly the motive, though unattractive at first sight. The next\nis its emphasis on meritocracy that is a new strategy to develop equality from\nthe bottom rather than something to be imposed from above.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NSD also offers opportunities in return for effort where rights\nimply responsibilities. This reciprocity is connected with its appeal to the\ncivic sense of community and meritocracy to join in partnership with the state\nto build a moralistic society.  The President\nrequested the civic community to be a partner in eradicating drugs and the\nunderworld. Finally I may also add pragmatism as a priority given the rapidly\nchanging post COVID environment. The pandemic, which hit us from nowhere, is\nthe best example in which adaptation is the key. In that many countries in the\nworld including Sri Lanka are adjusting the import substituting domestic\nindustry and agriculture. For this there needs a partnership between the\nprivate and public sector investment and management. Hence the enthusiasm in efficiency\ntargets, performance related pay, competition, and ‘management speak’. To\nassess public sector performance as market goods. Development and social\njustice in this perspective are   not planning to lower the ceiling by taxing for\nthe sake of equality but instead raise the bottom of the social floor. \n\nNeedless to say there\nare many critics and the debate will continue.     \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr D.Chandraratna It comes as no surprise that with the change of government we have; unobtrusively it may be, moved on to a different political platform\/perspective. Briefly stated there appears a shift from the more aggressive neo- liberalism of 2015, towards a reluctant form of socialism. Not quite to the centre of that paradigm yet, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-donald-chandraratna"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105771\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}