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Neofeudalism is a pejorative term used by some critics to describe the policies of various right-wing politicians, particularly those in the American Republican Party. The justification is that government policies are allegedly instituted with the specific intent, or at least the effect, of radically increasing the wealth gap between the rich and the poor while increasing the power of the rich and decreasing the power of the poor (also see wealth condensation). This effect is considered to be similar to classical feudalism.
Among the concerns of those who use the term are globalization, multinational corporations, and "corporatism".
Feudalism was a form of socioeconomic organization prevalent in medieval Europe and pre-industrial Asia, whereby political and economic control was maintained by a small group of feudal lords within a decentralized state. The vast majority of the population living in feudal Europe was legally bound to provide farming, husbandry and other agricultural services on land held by the nobility. In return, the lord offered protection and some measure of localized stability. One specific and alternative application of the term neofeudalism alleges that corporate and government policies make workers dependent on the corporations, as well as making the economic power of the corporations greater than the power of national governments. This, detractors say, leads to a situation where workers are dependent on private interests that are more powerful than government, resembling the situation that prevailed during historic feudalism. Some critics link these processes to neoliberalism.
The argument over neofeudalism is part of the controversy over income redistribution born out of massive societal shifts during the industrial revolution. At the time the issue was wealth disparity between classes, landholders, entrepreneurs, peasants, workers, and other economic and social groups. Neofeudalism encompasses the current debate over globalization to include entire societies, countries, regions ("North" versus "South", "Western" versus "non-Western"), and supra-national non-state actors. Unlike other geopolitical issues such as environmentalism and security, the charge of "neofeudalism" largely focuses on economics.
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