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Rentier Capitalism and Its Discontents

Power, Morality and Resistance in Central Asia

verfasst von: Dr. Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This book explains and evaluates today’s economic, political, social and ecological crises through the lens of rentier capitalism and countermovements in Central Asia. Over the last three decades the rich and powerful have increased their wealth and political power to the detriment of social and environmental well-being. But their activities have not gone unchecked. Grassroots activism has resisted the harmful and damaging effects of the neoliberal commodification of things.

Providing a much-needed theorisation of the moral economy and politics of rent, this book offers in-depth case studies on finance, real estate and natural resources in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The authors show the mechanisms of rent extraction, their moral justifications and legitimacy, and social struggles against them.

This book highlights the importance of class relations, state-countermovement interactions and global capitalism in understanding social and economic dynamics in Central Asia. It will be relevant to students and researchers interested in political economy, development studies, sociology, politics and international relations.

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Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

This book offers a moral economic critique of post-Soviet capitalism. In freeing markets from government regulation, neoliberalism enabled powerful economic actors to extract income by virtue of property rights that entitled them to a stream of income from mere ownership and control of existing scarce assets, including money credit, real estate and natural resources (Sayer 2015). Neoliberalism created and expanded the role of rent and unearned income in post-Soviet economies. Income extraction through interest, rent, dividends and capital gains was justified and normalised as part of the ‘free market’ system. Rent-seeking practices went beyond natural resource extraction and illicit public and private takings.

Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva

Theorising Rent Extraction

Frontmatter

Chapter 2. The Rise of the Rentier Class and Widening Social Inequalities

Abstract

This chapter discusses two key aspects of neoliberalism: rentierism and economic inequalities. The first part of the chapter provides some details of the different forms of rent in Central Asia, and the assets of the richest individuals in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan that facilitated rent extraction. Business elites often merged with political elites to create plutocracy. The second part examines the nature of income and wealth inequalities in the region. It also explores the hardship and misery associated with the commodification of basic goods and services.

Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva

Chapter 3. Moral Economy, the State and Social Movements

Abstract

This chapter offers a theoretical discussion that underpins the book. It consists of five sections, each of which focuses on a particular set of abstract ideas. The first section explicates the moral economy as both an object and a perspective. A vital distinction is made between earned and unearned income. Several key insights from the Polanyian double movement are elucidated in the second section. The commodification of money, land and labour, its dissatisfaction and harms, and the complex interactions between the state and countermovements are explored. The third section examines the state as a site of contestation of social forces. The nature of neoliberal constitutionalism and its focus on the rule of law are critically discussed in the fourth section. The fifth section explains how neoliberalism and regulatory capture can contribute towards criminogenic environments in economic sectors.

Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva

Interrogating the Regime of Rent and Its Justifications

Frontmatter

Chapter 4. Financial Institutions: Interest, Power and Moral Justifications

Abstract

This chapter critically examines how banks and microfinance institutions justified their lending practices and income from interest in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The lenders’ myths, norms, discourses and obligations were central in legitimising and depoliticising the unequal social relationship between lenders and borrowers. Financial relations were particularly important in neoliberal economies, because they expanded rentierism beyond the traditional forms of rent-seeking in real estate and natural resources. The chapter also evaluates two alternative forms of allocating credit (Islamic finance and a state-owned development fund) that aimed to minimise usury and finance productive investment.

Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva

Chapter 5. Property Development: Improperty, Plutocracy and Criminogency

Abstract

This chapter examines how property owners and developers gained wealth and political power in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The unequal ownership and control of real estate properties enabled wealthy elites to extract income by mere virtue of having property rights. Business and political elites engaged in violent and criminal struggles to control lucrative real estate. Moreover, new retail development projects involved elite struggles over the specifics of value grabbing; i.e. who pays rent to whom. Wealthy rentiers sought to capture the state through lobbying, donations, the media and elected office. The blurring of state and corporate interests created criminogenic environments, in which the crimes of the powerful and their harmful effects became endemic features of neoliberalisation.

Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva

Chapter 6. Natural Resources: Transnational Capital, Constitutionalism and Environmental Harms

Abstract

This chapter examines how legal and judicial mechanisms of governance promoted and protected transnational energy and mineral corporations’ freedoms and property rights in Central Asia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, most investors signed favourable contracts with host states, stipulating how production, costs, revenues and profits would be shared, and what, when and how much royalties, taxes, fees and penalties would be paid. Transnational corporations and host states are rentiers, extracting income based on the ownership and control of natural resources. The neoliberal regime of investment rules secured and defended investors’ rights and contracts at the expense of equitable and sustainable development. The chapter also discusses how legal and judicial structures constrained democratic forces, prioritising investors’ rights over people’s well-being.

Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva

Social Discontent Over Rentierism

Frontmatter

Chapter 7. The Right to the City: The Land and Housing Movements

Abstract

This chapter examines how rural migrants and propertyless groups mobilised their right to the city through informal settlements in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Residents of informal settlements formed grassroots movements to protect their homes, politicise housing shortage, lobby for land for housing, and demand legalisation and improvements to informal settlements. They tried to resist the neoliberal commodification of land and real estate and its negative effects on their lives. They struggled against state and business elites, who viewed informal settlements as chaotic and uncivilised. The demolition and construction of informal settlements offered an opportunity for the rich and powerful to modernise the city and extract rent. The chapter discusses how housing and land struggles unfolded in each country, and how country-specific political structures were important for the social movements’ trajectories and achievements.

Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva

Chapter 8. Confronting the Power of Money: The Anti-Debt Movements

Abstract

This chapter examines the grassroots mobilisation against the harmful effects of the neoliberal commodification of money and predatory lending in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The anti-debt movements problematised and denaturalised debt relations, and demanded strong state regulation of financial practices. The movement activists evolved in their interpretation of their situation and attribution of blame, leading the political regimes to suppress them in favour of financial capital. The anti-debt resistance was also hampered by lack of class solidarity and internal social tensions. The chapter discusses how resistance and social struggles unfolded in each country, and what outcomes were achieved.

Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva

Chapter 9. Fighting the Commodification of the Extractive Industries: The Labour and Environmental Movements

Abstract

This chapter will discuss how labour and environmental movements were a response to exploitative working conditions and destructive ecological practices in the natural resource sector in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Rent extraction in the sector was accompanied by intense labour exploitation and insecurity, and significant negative externalities for local communities. While the social struggles had different dynamics in the two countries, they had a similar outcome: the triumph of transnational capital over labour and local communities. In Kazakhstan, the oil industry faced resistance from local workers, whose politicisation was violently squashed by the oil complex. In Kyrgyzstan, local communities rather than mining workers resisted the gold mining industry, galvanised by environmental concerns and resource control.

Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva

Evaluating Rentier Capitalism

Frontmatter

Chapter 10. Critical Discussion: Neoliberalism, Social Suffering and Resistance

Abstract

This chapter consists of six thematic sections, each of which offers a critical discussion on issues arising from the case studies. The first section examines the nature and force of the neoliberal movement in Central Asia. It reveals the key economic and political powers, mechanisms, countervailing forces and outcomes in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The growth and diversity of rent-seeking practices are examined in the second section, moving beyond the usual analysis of natural resources and public corruption in the region. In the third section, the nature of the state’s strategic selectivity in Central Asia is explored. It emphasises capital’s privileged access and control over state institutions and capacities. Section ‘The Moral and Political Significance of Class’ discusses the significance of class in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It reveals how middle and working class groups often had different interpretations and responses to social inequalities and suffering. The fifth section discusses how Kazakhstan’s and Kyrgyzstan’s countermovements were responses to harms generated by the neoliberal commodification of money, land and labour. It also examines anti-plutocratic uprisings in Kyrgyzstan. Section ‘Moral Evaluations of Rentierism and Its Outcomes’ evaluates the effects of rentierism in terms of justice and flourishing. It shows that movement leaders and activists posed fundamental moral economic questions.

Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva

Chapter 11. Conclusions

Abstract

This chapter explores some broader issues arising from the book. Section one poses a fundamental question ‘What is the economy for?’ It argues that an economy must ensure sustainable development and human flourishing for all, and that rentier capitalism is not fit for purpose. The second section examines what policy measures and social alliances must occur to transform the existing economic system to better serve the people and preserve the planet. In the third section, the Covid-19 pandemic crisis is briefly discussed. It explores how rentier interests and activities were entrenched by countries’ responses to the pandemic. Lessons can be drawn from the crisis on how to tackle the threat of rentierism to humanity.

Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva

Backmatter

Titel: Rentier Capitalism and Its Discontents
verfasst von: Dr. Balihar Sanghera
Elmira Satybaldieva
Copyright-Jahr: 2021
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-76303-9
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-76302-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76303-9

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