The limits of neoliberalism : authority, sovereignty and the logic of competition / William Davies.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Davies, William, 1976- author.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Series:

Theory, culture & society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Neoliberalism.

Physical Description:

xiii, 220 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Los Angeles : SAGE, 2014.

Summary:

Since its intellectual inception in the 1930s and its political emergence in the 1970s, neoliberalism has sought to disenchant politics by replacing it with economics. This agenda-setting text examines the efforts and failures of economic experts to make government and public life amenable to measurement, and to re-model society and state in terms of competition. In particular, it explores the practical use of economic techniques and conventions by policy-makers, politicians, regulators and judges and how these practices are being adapted to the perceived failings of the neoliberal model. By picking apart the defining contradiction that arises from the conflation of economics and politics, this book asks: to what extent can economics provide government legitimacy? Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Disenchantment of Politics: Neoliberalism, sovereignty and economics 1

2 The Promise and Paradox of Competition: Markets, competitive agency and authority 35

3 The Liberal Spirit of Economics: Competition, anti-trust and the Chicago critique of law 70

4 The Violent Threat of Management: Competitiveness, strategy and the audit of political decision 108

5 Contingent Neoliberalism: Financial crisis and beyond 148.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781446270684

1446270688

OCLC:

881612913