Neoliberalism as Liberation: The Statehood Program and the Remaking of the Palestinian National Movement

Khalidi, Raja J. and Samour, Sobhi (2010): Neoliberalism as Liberation: The Statehood Program and the Remaking of the Palestinian National Movement. Published in: Journal of Palestine Studies , Vol. XL, No. No. 2 (Winter 2011) (February 2011): pp. 6-25.

Abstract

The Palestinian statehood-by-2011 program, framed through neoliberal institution building, redefines and diverts the Palestinian liberation struggle. Focusing on its economic aspects, and in particular the underlying neoliberal thought that goes beyond narrow economic policy applications, this essay argues that the program cannot succeed either as the midwife of independence or as a strategy for Palestinian economic development. Its weaknesses, the authors contend, derive not only from neoliberalism’s inability to deliver sustainable and equitable economic growth worldwide, but also because neoliberal “governance” under occupation, however “good,” cannot substitute for the broader struggle for national rights nor ensure the Palestinian right to development.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Palestine economy, neoliberalism, development strategies
• Subjects: N - Economic History > N4 - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation > N45 - Asia including Middle East; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O5 - Economywide Country Studies > O53 - Asia including Middle East; A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A12 - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches > B50 - General; P - Economic Systems > P5 - Comparative Economic Systems > P50 - General

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