Neoliberalism and Economic Transformation in Rural Bangladesh: A Study on Palsa Village

Journal of Sociology

Abstract

The massive economic change throughout the world is highly connected to the development of neoliberalism in society since the late twentieth century. Neoliberalism mainly deals with a political economic approach involving privatized market economy, promoting free-market and consumerism, facilitating microcredit, entrepreneurial trend and so on. Bangladesh, like many other developing countries, has a lot to do with her predominant agriculture-based economy. The state has been gradually moving toward the global trend of neoliberalism through new economic and policy formations. In between these, is the rural economy still distinct? Or are they positively or negatively impacted by the neoliberal formations? The present study aims to answer these questions. The study is conducted on Palsa village under Chapainawabanj district in Banladesh. Mixed method combining both of the qualitative and the quantitative approaches is applied here that have explored the findings from the triangulation of survey, FGDs and KIIs. In the survey work, 400 respondents were interviewed that has covered almost all of the households of the Palsa village. The findings of the study demonstrate diverse forms of neoliberal impact in Palsa including changes in the agricultural sector, growing culture of consumerism, expanding microloan programs leading to the increasing role of women in society and introducing the non-agricultural sectors, entrepreneurial initiatives and greater use of newer and advanced technologies in both of agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. In addition, it also stresses on the emerging vulnerable and victim groups and what they go through in this taking-off of the neoliberal process. The study concludes that proper policy implementation is required to limit the backlashes of neoliberalism and to widen the benefits of it in society.

Keywords: Neoliberalism, Economic Transformation, Privatization, Rural Society