ABSTRACT
The latter part of the 1970s witnessed the beginnings of a shift from the post-war Fordist to the newly globalizing, neo-liberal economic order. The re-capitalization of capital was under way. A big stirring was also happening in the humanities that would soon manifest itself as the post-modernist movement in its several guises. For citizens as well as planners, new social facts stared us in the face that clearly called for different responses to the ones we had been taught. Returning to the verities of the past was impossible; the only way was to move forward. But how, and what would this entail? The state was shrinking – some called it a hollowing-out of the state – and corporate ideologies emphasizing market competition reigned supreme. Political leaders were elected who saw no alternative to the new corporate order, and could not be relied upon to re-establish more equitable social relations.
