Damien Cahill – författare

For over three decades neoliberalism has been the dominant economic ideology. While it may have emerged relatively unscathed from the global financial crisis of 2007-8, neoliberalism is now - more than ever - under scrutiny from critics who argue that it has failed to live up to its promises, creating instead an increasingly unequal and insecure world.

This book offers a nuanced and probing analysis of the meaning and practical application of neoliberalism today, separating myth from reality. Drawing on examples such as the growth of finance, the role of corporate power and the rise of workfare, the book advances a balanced but distinctive perspective on neoliberalism as involving the interaction of ideas, material economic change and political transformations. It interrogates claims about the impending death of neoliberalism and considers the sources of its resilience in the current climate of political disenchantment and economic austerity.

Revisiting the magnetic poles of Karl Polanyi and Friedrich Hayek on the utopian springs of political economy, this book seeks to provide a compass for questioning the market economy of the twenty-first century.

For Polanyi, in The Great Transformation, the utopian springs of the dogma of liberalism existed within the extension of the market mechanism to the ‘fictitious commodities’ of land, labour, and money. There was nothing natural about laissez-faire. The progress of the utopia of a self-regulating market was backed by the state and checked by a double movement, which attempted to subordinate the laws of the market to the substance of human society through principles of self-protection, legislative intervention, and regulation. For Hayek, in The Road to Serfdom, the utopia of freedom was threatened by the abandonment of individualism and classical liberalism. The tyranny of government interventionism led to the loss of freedom, the creation of an oppressive society, and the despotism of dictatorship that led to the serfdom of the individual. Economic planning in the form of socialism and fascism had commonalities that stifled individual freedom. Against the power of the state, the guiding principle of the policy of freedom for the individual was advocated. Taking these different aspects of market economy as its point of departure, this book promises to deliver a set of essays by leading commentators on twenty- first- century political economy debates relevant to the present conjuncture of neoliberalism.

The chapters in this book were originally published in a special issue of the journal Globalizations.

Revisiting the magnetic poles of Karl Polanyi and Friedrich Hayek on the utopian springs of political economy, this book seeks to provide a compass for questioning the market economy of the twenty-first century.

For Polanyi, in The Great Transformation, the utopian springs of the dogma of liberalism existed within the extension of the market mechanism to the ‘fictitious commodities’ of land, labour, and money. There was nothing natural about laissez-faire. The progress of the utopia of a self-regulating market was backed by the state and checked by a double movement, which attempted to subordinate the laws of the market to the substance of human society through principles of self-protection, legislative intervention, and regulation. For Hayek, in The Road to Serfdom, the utopia of freedom was threatened by the abandonment of individualism and classical liberalism. The tyranny of government interventionism led to the loss of freedom, the creation of an oppressive society, and the despotism of dictatorship that led to the serfdom of the individual. Economic planning in the form of socialism and fascism had commonalities that stifled individual freedom. Against the power of the state, the guiding principle of the policy of freedom for the individual was advocated. Taking these different aspects of market economy as its point of departure, this book promises to deliver a set of essays by leading commentators on twenty- first- century political economy debates relevant to the present conjuncture of neoliberalism.

The chapters in this book were originally published in a special issue of the journal Globalizations.

The notion that when governments regulate the economy they are ‘intervening’ or ‘interfering’ in an otherwise natural, self-regulating sphere is ubiquitous in mainstream economic commentary. Such a notion has its roots in orthodox neoclassical economics which has historically assumed that the economy and society are separate and antithetical spheres of human conduct. This is demonstrably not the case and the economy is fundamentally socially embedded.

This book introduces a range of heterodox traditions of economic thought – Keynesian, Institutional, Marxist and Feminist – which offer alternative understanding of the economy. It explores the insights gleaned from these traditions including the social relations of production at the heart of capitalist economies; the essential role of institutions such as states and firms; the role of social expectations and norms in structuring economic behaviour; the way that gender shapes the distribution of economic resources; processes of commodification; and the way in which ‘social structures of accumulation’ provide stability and order to capitalist economies over time. Offering a critical perspective, the book also explores the contradictions and within and between each of these traditions.

Written in an accessible form, this text provides readers with the tools with which to view markets as underpinned by a range of social institutions – including state regulations, class and gender relations as well as social norms – and thus to counter the mystifications of orthodox economics with a more realistic appreciation of how economies are actually constituted in practice.

The notion that when governments regulate the economy they are ‘intervening’ or ‘interfering’ in an otherwise natural, self-regulating sphere is ubiquitous in mainstream economic commentary. Such a notion has its roots in orthodox neoclassical economics which has historically assumed that the economy and society are separate and antithetical spheres of human conduct. This is demonstrably not the case and the economy is fundamentally socially embedded.

This book introduces a range of heterodox traditions of economic thought – Keynesian, Institutional, Marxist and Feminist – which offer alternative understanding of the economy. It explores the insights gleaned from these traditions including the social relations of production at the heart of capitalist economies; the essential role of institutions such as states and firms; the role of social expectations and norms in structuring economic behaviour; the way that gender shapes the distribution of economic resources; processes of commodification; and the way in which ‘social structures of accumulation’ provide stability and order to capitalist economies over time. Offering a critical perspective, the book also explores the contradictions and within and between each of these traditions.

Written in an accessible form, this text provides readers with the tools with which to view markets as underpinned by a range of social institutions – including state regulations, class and gender relations as well as social norms – and thus to counter the mystifications of orthodox economics with a more realistic appreciation of how economies are actually constituted in practice.

Over the last two decades, ‘neoliberalism’ has emerged as a key concept within a range of social science disciplines including sociology, political science, human geography, anthropology, political economy, and cultural studies.  The SAGE Handbook of Neoliberalism showcases the cutting edge of contemporary scholarship in this field by bringing together a team of global experts. Across seven key sections, the handbook explores the different ways in which neoliberalism has been understood and the key questions about the nature of neoliberalism:  Part 1: Perspectives Part 2: Sources Part 3: Variations and Diffusions Part 4: The State Part 5: Social and Economic Restructuring Part 6: Cultural Dimensions Part 7: Neoliberalism and Beyond

This handbook is the key reference text for scholars and graduate students engaged in the growing field of neoliberalism. 

Over the last two decades, ‘neoliberalism’ has emerged as a key concept within a range of social science disciplines including sociology, political science, human geography, anthropology, political economy, and cultural studies.  The SAGE Handbook of Neoliberalism showcases the cutting edge of contemporary scholarship in this field by bringing together a team of global experts. Across seven key sections, the handbook explores the different ways in which neoliberalism has been understood and the key questions about the nature of neoliberalism:  Part 1: Perspectives Part 2: Sources Part 3: Variations and Diffusions Part 4: The State Part 5: Social and Economic Restructuring Part 6: Cultural Dimensions Part 7: Neoliberalism and Beyond

This handbook is the key reference text for scholars and graduate students engaged in the growing field of neoliberalism.