Rövid leírás:
The Return of Ordinary Capitalism examines neoliberalism as the prevailing political-economic logic of our time. How we got to this point, what are the effects on the economy, politics and public policymaking, and what can and should be done about it are the key questions addressed.
Több
Hosszú leírás:
As Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward argued in the early seventies, in a capitalist economy, social welfare policies alternatingly serve political and economic ends as circumstances dictate. In moments of political stability, governments emphasize a capitalistic work ethic (even if it means working a job that will leave one impoverished); when times are less politically stable, states liberalize welfare policies to recreate the conditions for political acquiescence. Sanford Schram argues in this new book that each shift produces its own path dependency even as it represents yet another iteration of what he (somewhat ironically) calls „ordinary capitalism,” where the changes in market logic inevitably produce changes in the structure of the state. In today’s ordinary capitalism, neoliberalism is the prevailing political-economic logic that has contributed significantly to unprecedented levels of inequality in an already unequal society. As the new normal, neoliberalism has marketization of the state as a core feature, heightening the role of economic actors, especially financiers, in shaping public policy. The results include increased economic precarity among the general population, giving rise to dramatic political responses on both the Left and the Right (Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party in particular). Schram examines neoliberalism’s constraints on politics as well as social and economic policy and gives special attention to the role protest politics plays in keeping alive the possibilities for ordinary people to exercise political agency. The Return of Ordinary Capitalism concludes with political strategies for working through–rather than around–neoliberalism via a radical, rather than status-quo-reinforcing, incrementalism.
The Return of Ordinary Capitalism is remarkable in what it holds together to illuminate our time: critical theory, empirical accounting of contemporary inequality and precarity, case studies on social welfare and education, and attunement to the neoliberalization of everyday life. One need not agree with Schram’s arguments to be profoundly instructed and moved by them. Clear, unpretentious and unafraid, this is a work for Occupy’s next round.
Több
Tartalomjegyzék:
Preface
Chapter 1 The Return of Ordinary Capitalism: Neoliberalism as the New Normal
Chapter 2 Middle-Class Melancholia: Self-Sufficiency after the Demise of Christianized Capitalism (U.S. Style)
Chapter 3 Occupy Precarity: Resisting the Limits of Collective Agency under Neoliberalism
Chapter 4 The Deep Semiotic Structure of Deservingness: Discourse and Identity in Neoliberal Welfare Policy
Chapter 5 The End of Social Work: Implementing a Neoliberal Paternalism (with Basha Silverman)
Chapter 6 Schooling the Corporatized Citizen/Corporatizing the School: From Grade School through College
Chapter 7 The Next Neoliberal Thing: Social Impact Bonds
Chapter 8 Getting Beyond Neoliberalism: The Road to Radical Incrementalism
Notes
Index
