The neoliberal age? : Britain since the 1970s / edited by Aled Davies, Ben Jackson, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Davies, Aled Rhys, 1988- editor.

Jackson, Ben, 1975- editor.

Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, Florence, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Neoliberalism--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Neoliberalism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (398 pages) : illustrations

Other Title:

Neoliberal Age?

Place of Publication:

London : UCL Press, [2021]

Summary:

The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries are commonly characterised as an age of 'neoliberalism' in which individualism, competition, free markets and privatisation came to dominate Britain's politics, economy and society. This historical framing has proven highly controversial, within both academia and contemporary political and public debate. Standard accounts of neoliberalism generally focus on the influence of political ideas in reshaping British politics; according to this narrative, neoliberalism was a right-wing ideology, peddled by political economists, think-tanks and politicians from the 1930s onwards, which finally triumphed in the 1970s and 1980s. The Neoliberal Age? suggests this narrative is too simplistic. Where the standard story sees neoliberalism as right-wing, this book points to some left-wing origins, too; where the standard story emphasises the agency of think-tanks and politicians, this book shows that other actors from the business world were also highly significant. Where the standard story can suggest that neoliberalism transformed subjectivities and social lives, this book illuminates other forces which helped make Britain more individualistic in the late twentieth century. The analysis thus takes neoliberalism seriously but also shows that it cannot be the only explanatory framework for understanding contemporary Britain. The book showcases cutting-edge research, making it useful to researchers and students, as well as to those interested in understanding the forces that have shaped our recent past.

Contents:

What came between New Liberalism and neoliberalism? Rethinking Keynesianism, the welfare state and social democracy

Intellectual histories of neoliberalism and their limits

Welfare in a neoliberal age: The politics of redistributive market liberalism

The failures of neoliberalism in Britain since the 1970s: The limits on 'market forces' in a de-industrialising economy and a 'New Speenhamland'

British varieties of neoliberalism: Unemployment policy from Thatcher to Blair

'I don't know how she does it!': Feminism, family and work in 'neoliberal' Britain

Workers' voice and the moral economy in Britain's 'Neoliberal' Age

Where was entrepreneurship in post-war Britain? Freedom, family, and choice in modern British shopping cultures

10. 'The privatisation of the struggle': Anti-racism in the age of enterprise

Neoliberalism and the Labour Party

Neoliberalism and Conservatism in Britain

Organised business and the rise of neoliberalism: The Confederation of British Industry 1965-1990s

The roots of Britain's financialised political economy

Begrudging neoliberalism: Housing and the fate of the property-owning social democracy.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Includes bibliographical references and index.