Abstract
The transformations brought about by globalisation, and the ramifications of economic progress epitomised by neoliberal projects have reconfigured transnational relationships, forging unexpected coalitions and challenging dominant paradigms of geopolitical power. This article sheds light on how Australia and Chile, two countries generally considered to be distant, have reshaped their bilateral relations and renegotiated projections of national identity in light of the implications of economic progress and trade. By applying Critical Discourse Analysis tools, this article examines a selection of Australian and Chilean governmental discourses released between 2010 and 2017 following the signing by both countries of a Free Trade Agreement. It is argued that globalisation, as well as the increasing visibility of neoliberal policies, has led to a closer bilateral relationship, albeit in a context of uneven flows of capital and intra-national social inequalities.
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Notes
- 1.
All translations are my own unless otherwise indicated.
- 2.
Ten years later, Australia and Peru signed a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (PAFTA).
- 3.
In a Latin American context, the neoliberal project is associated with a set of policies that embody the so-called Washington Consensus, suggested by American economist John Williamson in 1989. These policies sought a less visible role of the State, privatisation of public assets and cuts in public expenditure. Despite the fact that the initiative did not fulfil expectations, the denomination has been applied in a broader sense to refer to a regional open market of neoliberal policies. In Australia, neoliberal policies were adopted under the umbrella of so-called economic rationalism, material wealth being an essential aim. This purpose should be attained by the market and consumption, considered the tool to ensure standards of living.
- 4.
The G20 is an international forum of 19 countries and the European Union, along with representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The G20 includes the G7 countries, and eleven other countries such as China and India, as well as Brazil and Argentina from the South American region.
- 5.
The presidential visits occurred in 1993 (Patricio Aylwin), 2005 (Ricardo Lagos), 2012 (Sebastián Piñera, first term) and 2018 (Sebastián Piñera, second term). In August 2016, and for the first time in the history of Australia–Chile relations, the Australian Governor-General, Peter Cosgrove, visited Chile in the context of a regional official trip to Latin America.
- 6.
The Australian ministerial visits took place in 2009 (Stephen Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs), 2010 (Kevin Rudd, Minister of Foreign Affairs), 2011 (Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy), 2014 (Andrew Robb, Minister of Trade and Investment), 2015 (Julie Bishop, Minister of Foreign Affairs), 2016 (Peter Cosgrove, the Governor General of Australia) and 2017 (Steven Ciobo, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment).
- 7.
CDA emerged as a field of study with linguistic anthropologists almost 40 years ago. In 1979, British linguist Roger Fowler published his book Language and Control, opening a path towards the analysis of language and social and political practices. CDA has been developed extensively in the 1990s and at the beginning of the 2000s by European scholars Teun Van Dijk, Norman Fairclough, and Ruth Wodak, among others.
- 8.
Wallerstein (1979) constructed a model comprised of what he terms centre, semi-periphery, and periphery in the context of the decline of feudalism and the emergence of industrialisation in the sixteenth century. The three categories of his model are: the core, associated with North-western Europe which specialises in agricultural production and higher skill levels, being the most economically powerful, North-eastern Europe and Iberian America as the periphery confined to export of raw materials, and Mediterranean Europe as the semi-peripheral area focusing on high-cost industrial products.
- 9.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2017a), in 2016, Australia exported mainly coal, education-related travel and tourism to Chile. In the same period, Australia’s goods imports from Chile primarily included copper, copper ores and concentrates.
- 10.
One of these models refers to the traditional economy that highlights Indigenous customs and rituals.
- 11.
The discourse of development by the incumbent President of the United States, Harry Truman, in 1949 invoked scientific advance and industrial progress as an engine for prosperity and the “improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas,” mostly identified as regions located in the Southern Hemisphere (Truman 1949).
- 12.
The Chicago Boys, as they were known, were a group of young Chilean economists and technocrats who trained at the University of Chicago in the 1960s and carried out a set of economic and social reforms that became the basis for the neoliberal project. Chile tripled its GDP between 1990 and 2010 and, according to the Ministerio de Desarrollo Social (2013), poverty rates diminished from 39 to 8% between 1990 and 2013.
- 13.
According to the Dirección General de Relaciones Económicas Internacionales del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Chile (2013), Chile is Australia’s third-largest trading partner in Latin America, whereas Australia is the fourth largest investor in Chile’s mining sector. Over 120 Australian companies are trading in Chile and more than half of the companies with offices in Chile are related to the mining industry. Contrastingly, Australia has occupied tenth place as recipient of Chilean investment between 1990 and 2011, mining being the main area of interest.
- 14.
More recently, Australia became one of international founders for the construction of the world’s largest telescope in Northern Chile (Giant Magellan Telescope). The inauguration is planned for 2021.
- 15.
Economic and ideological power structures have remained without significant changes since the Chilean Australian FTA signing under the centre-left government of Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010). Bachelet was succeeded by centre-right government of Sebastián Piñera (2010–2014). In December 2017, Piñera was re-elected for a new term.
- 16.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2017b), both Chile and Australia are quintessential mining countries: while Chile is the world’s largest copper producer and exporter, Australia’s primary exports are based on iron ore, concentrates, and coal.
- 17.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2017a), education-related travel services are now Australia’s third source of exports. Chile has become Latin America’s third biggest source of international students after Brazil and Colombia. Australia has become one of the top destination countries for students through the Becas Chile Scholarship Programme, which includes postgraduate, undergraduate and vocational education and training scholarships. The government of Victoria opened its first office for trade and investment for the Latin American region in Santiago in 2017. Victoria’s biggest export—international education—has been a source of great interest among Latin American students, whose enrolments have increased threefold between 2006 and 2013.
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Acknowledgements
I thank the Chilean National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies, as well as The University of Sydney, for their support in developing this article. I also thank Dr. Philipp Schorch of Deakin University for his enlightening contributions to previous versions.
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Strodthoff, I. (2019). Rethinking the Chile–Australia Transpacific Relationship in Light of Globalisation and Economic Progress. In: Peñaloza, F., Walsh, S. (eds) Mapping South-South Connections. Studies of the Americas. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78577-6_5
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