CHANGING TORONTO

Changing Toronto: Governing Urban Neoliberalism

Changing Toronto: Governing Urban Neoliberalism

Introduction

The book “Changing Toronto: Governing Urban Neoliberalism” written by Keil and Young is interested in transformations of urban dynamics that occurred in recent years, in the greater Toronto area. Specifically, the authors address changes "before, during and after" the creation of the new "mega-city" of Toronto that is to say between 1995 and 2005. The authors examine Toronto from the early 1990s--through the forced amalgamation of 1995 and the election of a growth-oriented mayor in 1997--to today. It is their view that "neoliberal" policies have led to a wealthier but more socially and economically divided city. The authors begin by examining "neoliberalism" (i.e., emphasis on economic growth accompanied by cuts in taxes and social spending and increases in spending on public safety to preserve order).

The authors discuss the election of Mike Harris and the Progressive Conservatives (PC) in 1995 and the impact of their "Common Sense Revolution," which led to cuts in social spending,in the province, scaling back of environment regulation (which the authors, argue led to seven deaths in Walkerton in 2000 due to contaminated water), and attacks on organized labor. The authors look at planning, transportation, environmental, and cultural policies, among others, suggesting that a more market-oriented approach has led to a wealthier city, but a more stratified and divided city. The authors suggest that, even with the defeat of the PC government in 2001 and the election of a left-leaning mayor in 2003, a shift away from neoliberalism is by no means assured(Boudreau & Young, 2009).

Important topics discussed in the book

Neoliberalism

The objective of neoliberal reforms is to transform civil society relations State and further promote what Cox has been defined as "internationalization of State ". This is a "global process by which policies and practices nationals have been adjusted to the demands of the global economy of production international '. These reforms are designed to break the traditional role played by the state since World War II according to which he served as a call to insulate the domestic economy from the vagaries of the international economy. Later examines the nature of such reforms (McCann & Cochrane, 2011). The ideological appeal of the reforms is rooted in the neoclassical concept of Status: setting and enforcing the rules microeconomic and maintain the macroeconomic stability (mainly through monetarist policies). In principle, markets should be liberalized and deregulated to give the signals markets are "cleaner" so that agents can respond to price incentives. With free agents to pursue the interests private, is the "invisible hand" of Adam Smith to promote the interests social. Thus, it follows that should privatize the This- do, deregulate the activity of the input and output markets, liberalize trade and finance, and eliminate subsidies and other forms of intervention government's open market activities.

Neoliberal restructuring is not derived from democratic processes. The drive largely elites and rarely follows a popular mandate to "free choice ". For example, until now no government in Latin America has won elections ...