ABSTRACT
From the early 1990s to the present, neoliberalism in Britain has shifted towards a new form which we have referred to as ‘conservative interventionism’; this change was begun under the John Major’s Conservative government and deepened by the current Labour government. It has had major implications for the poor and poverty policy. The change has been propelled by the problems of ‘pure’ neoliberalism for business and the state (section 9.2). In production, pure cost competition has shown its limits; infrastructures essential for production have declined; labour power has been inadequately reproduced; and the rate of profit has consequently not risen sufficiently to stabilise the national economy. The legitimacy of neoliberalism has also been eroded by deterioration of the social and physical environment, its individualistic culture, profiteering by business, and widening inequalities. Purely disciplinary employment relations and a reliance on market mechanisms have shown their limits. Neoliberalism’s failures for the poor (section 9.2) have been a part, but only a minor part, of these pressures. CI has attempted to address these problems through a number of shifts: improved funding for public services and infrastructures relevant to productivity and reproduction of the labour force; cautious revival of industrial support; strengthening of family and community discipline; and revival of the notion of citizenship. These are intended to improve the quality of services and labour power available to production, to defuse antagonisms in employment, to strengthen social order, and thus to relegitimate capitalism in its neoliberal form.
