Browsing by Author "Bergsvik, Robert"

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    From casino capitalism to financial crisis : a constructivist analysis of the post-cold war financial order
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-12) Bergsvik, Robert; Fourie, Pieter; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study applies a constructivist analysis in order to examine the extent to which the global capitalist system has gone through a process of financialisation in the post-Cold War order. Parallel to financialisation of the capitalist system, an increased degree of financial instability has followed. This has made the system more prone to financial crises. The study compares the core dimensions of the financial sector to that of a casino, explaining how champions of finance have forced everyone to become gamblers in the global economic system. The aim of the study is to identify, describe and explain the process of financialisation by looking at the power of norms. The approach of this study is an in-depth analysis of a single case i.e. the process of financialisation, which makes it to be of a qualitative nature. The study has chosen to focus on the process of financialisation because of its close connection to financial crises on a regional and global scale. This links financialisation to globalisation and the actions of international finance in the developing world. The utility of the norm life cycle theory is demonstrated through its ability to account for changes occurring in international institutions. Moreover, how their mission and framework are susceptible to the influence of norms. The study argues that the increased influence of finance in the international system must be understood in connection with the rise of neoliberalism in the USA and Britain during the 1980s. The norms of finance emerged with powerful politicians such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan; they represent a larger group of norm entrepreneurs that have championed the norms of finance in the political and economic sector simultaneously. The study explains how with the help of these entrepreneurs the norms of finance cascaded through the international system, capturing powerful institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation. This enabled the norms of finance to reach the third and final stage of the norm life cycle, which is internalisation. The resilience of these norms is discussed in connection with the global financial crisis of 2008-2009; a crisis largely created by an out-of-control financial sector.