Economic restructuring
An al Jazeera article brought a new film to my attention. When it's released in the US, it might be appropriate for students considering the issue of economic restructuring. Since the 2007 exam reminded us that political economy is part of the curriculum (like the 2006 exam reminded us that the EU is included), this film might be a good way to begin examining some of the economic issues. If you see this film before I do, write and tell us all about your impressions.Spread of privatisation questioned
"Florian Opitz, a German filmmaker whose latest work takes a critical look at the impact of privatisation on people's lives, says the selling off of state holdings has become an 'unchallenged ideology'.
"The Big Sellout... explores the effects of privatisation on rail, healthcare and other public services... [It] will be released shortly in the United States...
"While insisting he is anything but a fan of Michael Moore, the US filmmaker, and his confrontational approach, Opitz's English-language film Der Grosse Ausverkauf - as it is titled in German - is similar in style..."
The film's web site describes the film.
"THE BIG SELLOUT is a political film. In various episodes the abstract phenomenon of privatisation is depicted in stories about very concrete human destinies around the globe. The documentary tells tragic, tragicomic but also encouraging stories of the everyday life of people, who day by day have to deal with the effects of privatisation politics, dictated by anonymous international financial institutions in Washington D.C. and Geneva, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation (WTO)...
"FLORIAN OPITZ talks to the architects of the new economic world order, as well as to ordinary people who have to deal with the politics of the former...
"In the documentary, Joseph Stiglitz, one of the world's best known economists and Nobel Prize winner for economy makes the viewer understand where the dogma of privatisation came from, who profits from it, and what societies lose, when following it blindly. As refined former director of the World Bank, he comes from the world of financial institutions, but today he is fighting for the losers of the privatisation process, triggered by these same organizations..."
- See James McNalley's review of THE BIG SELLOUT after it was shown at the Toronto Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival
- Bavaria Film International on The Big Sellout
Labels: economics, globalization, governance
posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:29 AM
3 Comments:
Thanks for the link, but my site is just a film blog and not the official page from the film festival. I reviewed the film when it played at Toronto's Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival.
My mistake. I'll correct the reference.
For those of you interested on the effects of privatization on ordinary individual, especially when MNCs privatize essential infrastructure such as water, electricty, railways and health care, you should check out the new documentary "The Big Sell-Out."
This documentary challenges current economic orthodoxy in contending that the dogmatic claims of the international business establishment for neo-liberal development policies are not supported by modern economic science. More importantly, it dramatically demonstrates how the implementation of these policies is having disastrous consequences for millions of ordinary people around the globe.
While national and international economic discourse is fixated on increasing efficiency and economic growth, The Big Sellout reminds us that there are faces behind the statistics. It raises serious questions about the neo-liberal credo that government best serves the public interest by becoming a servant to corporate interests. But brave individuals, like those showcased in this important new film, are standing up and demanding an alternative to the prevailing neo-liberal model, a model that the film shows to be as hollow as it is unsustainable.
In particular to Latin America, the films documents how citizens in Cochabamba, Bolivia have organized enormous protests in 2000, following the decision by the Bolivian government to sell the public water company to a private corporation, which would have made water cost-prohibitive to much of the population. The Big Sellout shows how ordinary people are fighting the neo-liberal commodification of basic public goods.
If you are interested in obtaining a copy of this film, it is available from CA Newsreel at www.newsreel.org
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