ABSTRACT

Neoliberalism remains a flashpoint for political contestation around the world. For decades now, neoliberalism has been in the process of becoming a globally ascendant default logic that prioritizes using economic rationality for all major decisions, in all sectors of society, at the collective level of state policymaking as well as the personal level of individual choice-making. Donald Trump's recent presidential victory has been interpreted both as a repudiation and as a validation of neoliberalism’s hegemony. 

Rethinking Neoliberalism brings together theorists, social scientists, and public policy scholars to address neoliberalism as a governing ethic for our times. The chapters interrogate various dimensions of debates about neoliberalism while offering engaging empirical examples of neoliberalism’s effects on social and urban policy in the USA, Europe, Russia, and elsewhere. Themes discussed include:

  • Relationship between neoliberalism, the state, and civil society
  • Neoliberalism and social policy to discipline citizens 
  • Urban policy and how neoliberalism reshapes urban governance  
  • What it will take politically to get beyond neoliberalism.

Written in a clear and accessible style, Rethinking Neoliberalism is a sophisticated synthesis of theory and practice, making it a compelling read for students of Political Science, Public Policy, Sociology, Geography, Urban Planning, Social Work and related fields, at both the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels.

part I

Theorizing Neoliberalism

part II|77 pages

Reconstructing the Individual via Social Policy

chapter 4|23 pages

Investing in Social Subjects

The European Turn to Social Investment as the Human Capital Theory of Social Citizenship

chapter 6|15 pages

Neoliberalism Viewed from the Bottom Up

A Qualitative Longitudinal Study of Benefit Claimants’ Experiences of the Unemployment System

chapter 7|18 pages

Neoliberal Talk

The Routinized Structures of Document-Focused Social Worker–Client Discourse

part III|39 pages

The Neoliberal Disciplinary Regime

part IV|37 pages

Urban Governance

chapter 10|20 pages

Neoliberalizing Detroit

chapter 11|16 pages

Political Dissent in Amman, Jordan

Neoliberal Geographies of Protest and Policing

part V|43 pages

Forward

chapter 12|22 pages

The Knight’s Move

Social Policy Change in an Age of Consolidated Power

chapter 13|20 pages

Neoliberalism

Towards A Critical Counter-Conduct 1