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Thirteen Things You Need to Know about Neoliberalism

Author

Listed:
  • Ben Fine

    (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London)

  • Alfredo Saad-Filho

    (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London)

  • Kate Bayliss

    (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London)

  • Mary Robertson

    (The University of Leeds)

Abstract

This paper examines the theories and practices of neoliberalism drawing upon five case studies of housing and water across Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey and the United Kingdom. This examination ranges across thirteen aspects of (‘things you need to know about’) neoliberalism. They include the argument that neoliberalism is not reducible to a cogent ideology or a change in economic or social policies, nor is it primarily about a shift in the relationship between the state and the market or between workers and capital in general, or finance in particular. Instead, neoliberalism is a stage in the development of capitalism underpinned by financialisation. Neoliberalism is highly diversified in its features, impact and outcomes, reflecting specific combinations of scholarship, ideology, policy and practice. In turn, these are attached to distinctive material cultures giving rise to the (variegated) neoliberalisation of everyday life and, at a further remove, to specific modalities of economic growth, volatility and crisis. Finally, this paper argues that there are alternatives, both within and beyond neoliberalism itself.

Suggested Citation

  • Ben Fine & Alfredo Saad-Filho & Kate Bayliss & Mary Robertson, 2016. "Thirteen Things You Need to Know about Neoliberalism," Working papers wpaper155, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
  • Handle: RePEc:fes:wpaper:wpaper155
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Piotr Lis, 2015. "Financialisation of the water sector in Poland," Working papers wpaper101, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    2. Kate Bayliss, 2008. "Water and Electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Kate Bayliss & Ben Fine (ed.), Privatization and Alternative Public Sector Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa, chapter 5, pages 88-122, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Peck, Jamie, 2012. "Constructions of Neoliberal Reason," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199662081.
    4. Nuno Teles, 2015. "Financialisation and neoliberalism; The case of water provision in Portugal," Working papers wpaper102, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    5. Ben Fine, 2013. "Financialization from a Marxist Perspective," International Journal of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(4), pages 47-66.
    6. Riccardo Fiorentini, 2015. "Neoliberal Policies, Income Distribution Inequality and the Financial Crisis," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 115-132, August.
    7. Mary Robertson, 2014. "Case Study: Finance and Housing Provision in Britain," Working papers wpaper51, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    8. Daniel Stedman Jones, 2012. "Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9827.
    9. Stavros D. Mavroudeas, 2006. "A History of Contemporary Political Economy and Postmodernism," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 38(4), pages 499-518, December.
    10. Burgin, Angus, 2012. "The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free Markets since the Depression," Economics Books, Harvard University Press, number 9780674058132, Spring.
    11. Daniel Stedman Jones, 2014. "Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10240.
    12. Robert Wade, 2013. "How High Inequality Plus Neoliberal Governance Weakens Democracy," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(6), pages 5-37.
    13. Kate Bayliss & Ben Fine & Mary Robertson, 2013. "From Financialisation to Consumption: The Systems of Provision Approach Applied to Housing and Water," Working papers wpaper02, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    14. Andrew Kliman & Shannon D. Williams, 2015. "Why ‘financialisation’ hasn’t depressed US productive investment," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 39(1), pages 67-92.
    15. Yvonne Rydin, 1998. "The Enabling Local State and Urban Development: Resources, Rhetoric and Planning in East London," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 35(2), pages 175-191, February.
    16. Piotr Lis, 2015. "Financialisation of the system of provision applied to housing in Poland," Working papers wpaper100, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    17. Damien Cahill, 2014. "The End of Laissez-Faire?," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14727.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Flynn, Matthew B., 2021. "Global capitalism as a societal determinant of health: A conceptual framework," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    2. Nithya Natarajan & Katherine Brickell & Laurie Parsons, 2021. "Diffuse Drivers of Modern Slavery: From Microfinance to Unfree Labour in Cambodia," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(2), pages 241-264, March.
    3. Lena Lavinas, 2018. "The Collateralization of Social Policy under Financialized Capitalism," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 49(2), pages 502-517, March.
    4. Ben Fine & Seeraj Mohamed, 2022. "Locating Industrial Policy in Developmental Transformation: Lessons from the Past, Prospects for the Future," Working Papers 247, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    financialisation; neoliberalism; housing; water; capitalism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • L95 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Gas Utilities; Pipelines; Water Utilities
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • P1 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies
    • P10 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - General

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