The Evolution of Development Theory and Tourism - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 51

cutbacks in social assistance programmes (Brohman, 1996b). Poor women
and children have particularly been noted to suffer the effects of structural
adjustment policies. Criticisms of the IMF, including its devaluation policy
of the Mexican peso (Drouin, 1995) and its emergency rescue packages for
Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea in the context of the Asian economic
crisis (Hale, 1998) are a reflection of disillusionment with these policies.
Kendie (1995) argues that structural adjustment programmes need restruc-
turing to include environmental dimensions.
The main focus of structural adjustment programmes has been to reform
the political economy without properly linking the measures to the demo-
cratic process. It has been argued that this has resulted in the strengthening
of national and transnational elites in the new economic order (Dieke, 1995).
Critics of the new global economic order, such as Strange (1988, 1996), argue
that governments of all states have been weakened with the accelerated
integration of national economies into a single global market economy and
they criticise the power of international organisations. Chomsky (1999: 7)
critically writes that 'neoliberalism is the defining political economic para-
digm of our time - it refers to the policies and processes whereby a relative
handful of private interests are permitted to control as much as possible of
social life in order to maximize their personal profit'. Protests at meetings of
the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle, the IMF in Prague and the
Summit of the Americas in Quebec City were also seen to be the start of the
growing disenchantment with the policies of international financial agen-
cies. Neoliberalism has also been criticised for its association with orthodox
neoclassical theory. Neoclassical theory, in turn, has been criticised as it neg-
lects sociocultural and political relations, environment and sustainability
issues, and the intersubjective realm of meaning and values of development
(Brohman, 1995).
It is usually said that when a development project fails it is because no
account has been taken of the qualitative variables i.e. of culture in the
broadest sense of the term: that cultural model, traditions or irrational
behaviour restrain the introduction of rational and universal technico-
economic innovations. (Desjeux, 1981: 37)
Economic Neoliberalism and Tourism
Under economic neoliberalism, multinational tourism companies (e.g.
hotels, airlines, cruise ships) should be free to operate across national borders
unfettered by onerous regulations or protectionist measures. Liberalisation
of trade rules in the airline industry as seen in Open Skies Agreements
between nations (e.g. EU-USA) illustrates the movement to remove trade
barriers in tourism (Micco & Serebrisky, 2006), while cruise ships operate