SEMINAR 3:

NEOLIBERALISM AND
AUTHORITARIAN
MEDIA CULTURES
Group 3:
1. Phạm Thị Thu Thảo - 19040192
2. Hà Thị Ánh Tuyết - 20041473
3. Trần Thu Hằng - 20041415
4. Nông Việt Trung - 20040505
5. Hồ Đức Hoàng - 20041418
 DEFINITION

Neoliberalism is a policy model that

encompasses both politics and economics. It
favors private enterprise and seeks to transfer
the control of economic factors from the
government to the private sector.

(Investopedia, 2022)
 HISTORY OF NEOLIBERALISM

Neoliberalism has its ideological roots in

the classical liberalism of the 19th
century.

That variant of liberalism is often

associated with the economist Adam
Smith.
(Navaro, 2007)

 HISTORY OF NEOLIBERALISM

By the 1970s, economic stagnation and

increasing public debt prompted some
economists to advocate a return to
classical liberalism, which in its revived
form came to be known as
neoliberalism.

(Navaro, 2007)
Margaret Thatcher Ronald

Reagan
Goals of Neoliberalism
 Free market
Neoliberalism is the defense of the
free market => The best way to
allocate resources.
Prices should not be regulated, but
should be set according to supply and
demand.
The lack of state intervention must
occur in national and international
markets.
(White, 2021)
 Privatization
The private sector is the only sector that
should be present in the economy.

Privatization makes capital concentrated on

the elite and increases the price of services.

(White, 2021)
Deregulation
Governments should not
establish any kind of regulation
that affects economic activities.

A near-total reduction of taxes,

along with other measures that
could impede supply and
demand.

(White, 2021)
 Tax reduction
Taxes on economic activities are as
low as possible.
The resources of the State and social
programs are reduced. However,
neoliberals advocate that public
spending is minimal.

(White, 2021)
 Personal responsibility

*Neoliberalism promotes legal equality

among all individuals
Each person has different abilities,
which will be rewarded differently
according to their productivity.

*Neo-liberals place all responsibility on

the individual.

(White, 2021)
Effects of Neoliberalism
 Positive Effects

Higher market growth Greater competition Macroeconomic data

improves
(Monbiot, 2021)
 Negative Effects

Reduction of workers' rights Concentration of wealth Creation of monopoly

companies

(Monbiot, 2021)
Neoliberalism
in global &
Vietnam
context
 Neoliberalism in global context

Adopted in industrialized countries

after World War II

Became the foundation of the

policy of exploiting resources

Promotes the interests of

multinational corporations

(Thanh, 2006)
Neoliberalism in global context
 Neoliberalism in Vietnamese context

Any claim that Vietnam can be accurately

labeled as "neoliberal" has been vigorously
rejected by academics. (Yến-Khanh et al.,
2022)

Vietnam, in terms of economic development, ‘

'has integrated into [the liberal] order'. (Thiem,
2015)

The neoliberal "good governance" doxa has led

Vietnam party-state to rationalize its political
power in a way that has weakened the official
socialist ideology. (Thiem, 2015)
Authoritarian media cultures
 Authoritarianism
Is characterized by highly concentrated
and centralized power maintained by
political repression and the exclusion of
potential challengers

Uses political parties and mass

organizations to mobilize people around
the goals of the regime

(Authoritarianism - ECPS, n.d.)

Adolf Hitler Kim Jong Un Joseph Stalin

 The Authoritarian Theory

It is a normative theory of mass communication
where mass media is influenced and overpowered
by power and authority in the nations.

Media must respect what authorities want and

work according to the wishes of the authorities.

The press and media cannot work independently

and their works are suspected to censorship.

(Siebert et al., 1963)

Examples of authoritarian
media cultures
Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler
(Images: Holocaust Encyclopedia)
German boys read an issue of Der Stuermer newspaper
posted in a display box at the entrance to a Nazi Party
headquarters in the Dresden region. The German slogan
(partially obscured) at the bottom of the display box reads,
"The Jews are our misfortune."
Examples of authoritarian
media cultures

Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov (on the right) was removed from this photograph after he was
dismissed by the Soviet state as an excessive rogue and was shot dead in 1940. These types
of censors are common during Stalin’s reign in the Soviet Union.

(Image: AFP)
 Examples of authoritarian
media cultures
Saudi Arabia’s Authoritarian Media Campaign
under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
(Image: Inside Arabia)
Security officers on Monday attempt to stop
journalists from taking photographs and
filming outside the Melia Hotel in Hanoi, the
base for the North Korean delegation, ahead
of the summit between President Trump and
Kim Jong Un. (Image: Reuters)
DISCUSSION
 DISCUSSION
Question 1: Any argument that Vietnam
may be considered to be "neoliberal"
has been vehemently refuted by many
scholars. Do you support or oppose this
course of action? Justify your
agreement or disagreement with the
statement.
 DISCUSSION

The core precepts of socialist authoritarianism, which are Communist

Party sole leadership, state economic management and an
administrative centralism, strongly remain in Vietnam => making
Vietnam an authoritarian state. (Nicholson & Gillespie, 2005)
However, the practices of neoliberalism appear in many aspects of
politics, culture, and the economy in Vietnam, albeit not as prominently
as in western countries.
 DISCUSSION
Question 2: Is it possible that the

authoritarian theory of mass

communication be applied in the

context of media culture in Vietnam?

Explain your answer.

 DISCUSSION
The characteristic of Vietnamese media is that, whether state-owned or
privately-owned, Vietnamese media are primarily identified as mouthpieces of
party and state agencies. (Yến-Khanh et al., 2022)
At the same time, Vietnam's state authorities manipulate content on social
media platforms, and Vietnamese media outlets are still punished for reporting
different taboo topics. (Reed, 2020) (Yến-Khanh et al., 2022)
Vietnamese politicians do give the media some space to raise issues of concern
to their audiences. Vietnamese netizens have to some extent been able to make
some positive contributions to the media landscape. (Nguyen, 2009)
 REFERENCES
Authoritarianism - ECPS. (n.d.). European Center for Populism Studies. https://www.populismstudies.org/Vocabulary/authoritarianism/
Manning, L. (2022, July 29). Neoliberalism: What It Is, With Examples and Pros and Cons. Investopedia. Retrieved 2 15, 2023, from
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/neoliberalism.asp
Monbiot, G. (2021, September 8). Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems. The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot?0p19G=c
Navarro, V. (2007). Neoliberalism as a Class Ideology; Or, the Political Causes of the Growth of Inequalities. International Journal of Health Services, 37(1), 47–62.
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