Neoliberalism K—UMich 2013 neg 1NCs 1NC: Generic
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- Neoliberal policies cut social welfare critical for LGBT youth—dooms them to violence and poverty
AT: Alt failsLatin American anticapitalist revolutionary ideas are unconventional and successfulAlbo, Department of Political Science, York University, 06 (Gregory, “The Unexpected Revolution: Venezuela Confronts Neoliberalism”, Presentation at the University of Alberta, International Development Week, 1/06, http://socialistproject.ca/theory/venezuela_praksis.pdf)//AS ln spite of so many determined efforts of the past to impose a uniform architecture, there is no blueprint for making a revolution against capitalism. And there is just as clearly no single design for the Lett today to break out of the straitjacket of neoliberalism, and re-open possibilities for more democratic and egalitarian social orders. The thing about social revolutions is that they keep coming around in unexpected ways in unexpected places. Who would have dared predict the emption that was Seattle in November l999, when the powers behind neoliberal globalization seemed completely unassailable? And who would have predicted then - certainly none of the sages of the global social justice movement who quite consciously moved to the margins the issue of winning state power as another failed blueprint- that Venezuela under Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias would emerge as the key zone insisting that alternatives to neoliberalism must not only be asserted but tried? This is exactly the importance of Chavez and the Bolivarian revolutionary process, as the Chavistas refer to their struggle, for the Left at this juncture in the struggle against neoliberal globalization."˜ AT: LGBTNeoliberal policies repress identity politics and LGBT activismSmith, professor in the Department of Social Science at York University05 (Miriam, “Resisting and reinforcing neoliberalism: lesbian and gay organising at the federal and local levels in Canada”, Policy and Politics 33:1, 2005, IngentaConnect)//AS This article explores the impact of neoliberalism on group and social movement politics through a comparison of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)2 organising at the local level in the city of Toronto and LGBT organising at the federal level3 in Canada. The constitution of neoliberalism as a set of policies and as a discursive construction of the new ‘common sense’ of politics entails a reformulation of the relationship between the individual, the market, the state and the intermediary organisations – interest groups, voluntary sector organisations and social movement organisations – that represent and articulate the interests and identities of civil society (Jenson and Phillips, 1996; Jenson, 1999). In Canada, as in other countries, the credibility and capacity for collective political advocacy has been undercut by attacks on the labour movement (Panitch and Swartz, 2003), by social policy downloading to the local level, by the dismantling of federal programmes that used to fund advocacy for disadvantaged groups, and by the accelerating trend of public consultation through depoliticised models of ‘partnership’, ‘charity’ and service provision (Jenson and Phillips, 1996; Jenson, 1999; McKeen and Porter, 2003). The delegitimation of advocacy and collective action reinforces the discursive and ideological impact of neoliberalism, helping to cement political and electoral coalitions behind neoliberal political leaders and to shift the terms of political discourse in ways that reduce democratic choice and present neoliberal policies and social practices as natural and unavoidable (Brodie, 1996; Hindess, 1997). Neoliberal policies cut social welfare critical for LGBT youth—dooms them to violence and povertySmith, professor in the Department of Social Science at York University05 (Miriam, “Resisting and reinforcing neoliberalism: lesbian and gay organising at the federal and local levels in Canada”, Policy and Politics 33:1, 2005, IngentaConnect)//AS Supporting Our Youth (SOY) is a Toronto non-profit organisation that offers services¶ and support to LGBT youth in the city5¶ . SOY was organised in response to perceived¶ needs in the LGBT youth community in Toronto, which were defined in part by¶ LGBT professionals working in social services. In their view, LGBT youth are¶ more vulnerable to poverty, suicide, street involvement and violence than straight¶ youth because they are more likely to lack family support or to have been turned¶ out of the family home before they are able to be independent. These vulnerable¶ youth face a social services system that does not recognise their specific needs for¶ shelter, food, education, freedom from violence and adult nurturing and guidance¶ (Lepischak, 2002; Purdy, 2002; SOY, 2003). In the view of those working in local¶ social service groups such as SOY, cuts to social services, welfare and education in¶ the city of Toronto have had important and specific effects on LGBT youth.¶ According to SOY’s leaders, local voluntary sector groups in Toronto are on the¶ receiving end of social service cuts – where the ‘rubber hits the road’ – when they¶ see young people who live in the street because of their inability to access affordable¶ housing and who are victims of suicide, violence and gay-bashing in part because¶ they do not have a home (Purdy, 2002; Lepischak, 2002; Xtra, 23 May 1996). As¶ one SOY leader explains:¶ I think that the reductions in welfare and the more stringent qualifications¶ have had a huge impact. The cost of housing has escalated and no new housing¶ has been built to support it…. So the availability of housing is shrinking and¶ … so people are staying on the streets or in the shelter system longer, having¶ a much harder time getting out of that system and into some kind of stable¶ housing. I also think that we are seeing kids coming out younger and younger¶ now, and the reactions that they are getting from their families aren’t any¶ better…. Some of the youth … have been in the shelter system for like five¶ years or six years.… I think the cuts have had a huge major negative effect.¶ (Lepischak, 2002) Download 1.47 Mb. Share with your friends:
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