Abstract
In the wake of ongoing crisis largely attributable to neoliberal policies, neoliberalism has nonetheless remained politically dominant, as illustrated by the enforcement of various austerity programmes cross-nationally. These three books examine a series of interrelated questions arising from the neoliberal political-economic ascendancy and the crisis. First, Colin Crouch addresses neoliberalism’s remarkable resilience as a framework for economic management and public policy, despite its divergence in practice from an ideal model of free, competitive markets. The neoliberal era has produced unprecedented growth in the wealth and political influence of major corporations: Crouch evaluates the potential for a reinvigorated civil society to challenge the combined dominance of cor-porations, states and markets. The concentration of political and economic power under neoliberalism is also examined by Gérard Duménil and Dominique Lévy. Focusing on the US origins of the crisis, they analyse neoliberalism as a distinct social order through which a dominant alliance of capitalists and managers has accumulated massive wealth. They assess the longer-term consequences for the USA’s political-economic structure and its international hegemonic position, going on to investigate the possibilities for a post-neoliberal order, both domestically and internationally – although they envisage few prospects of any left alternative or a return to an earlier social-democratic compromise. Similarly, the waning of Keynesian-era macro-corporatism provides Mark Anner with a setting within which to discuss union responses to global restructuring in Latin America.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 178-185 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Work, Employment and Society |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Keywords
- neoliberalism