Post-Crash Neoliberalism in Theory and Practice
| Author | Ben Whitham |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929917720430 |
| Published date | 01 November 2018 |
| Date | 01 November 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929917720430
Political Studies Review
2018, Vol. 16(4) 252 –264
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929917720430
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Post-Crash Neoliberalism in
Theory and Practice
Ben Whitham
Abstract
Despite the massive state interventions into financial markets following the crash of 2007, the
academic literature on the political-economic theory and practice of neoliberalism – a phenomenon
often (mis)identified as equivalent to ‘free market’ fundamentalism or a second wave of laissez-faire
– has continued to flourish, rather than decline in the post-crash era. This article discusses three
recent books that offer insights into the resilience of neoliberalism in theory and practice. While
all three books were published shortly before the onset of the new political crisis in the West,
represented by Brexit, Trump and the rise of the far right, it is argued, here, that their analyses of
post-crash neoliberalism in theory and practice offer useful clues as to what may lie ahead.
Ban C (2016) Ruling Ideas: How Global Neoliberalism Goes Local. Oxford University Press: New York,
301pp.
Davison S and Harris K (eds) (2015) The Neoliberal Crisis. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 112pp.
Hoskins A and Tulloch J (2016) Risk and Hyperconnectivity: Media and Memories of Neoliberalism.
New York: Oxford University Press, 333pp.
Keywords
neoliberalism, financial crisis, post-crash economics, nationalism, right-wing populism.
Accepted: 18 May 2017
A decade on from the onset of the global financial crisis, its effects are still being felt
acutely by millions of people around the world. Cuts to public services and welfare, stag-
nating wages and consequent cost of living and housing crises have pervaded ‘core’
Western states. These post-crash effects are, of course, even more keenly felt in those
societies that entered the crisis period from a position of relative economic weakness.
People living at the ‘periphery’ of the European Union (EU), in Greece and Spain, for
example, have suffered from widespread unemployment, and the total collapse of some
public services, while economies of the global South have borne the brunt of sudden
changes to global chains of production and consumption.
An early response from the governments of some core states was to intervene into
financial markets through bailouts, using public money and labels like ‘fiscal stimuli’ to
Department of Politics and Public Policy, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
Corresponding author:
Ben Whitham, Department of Politics and Public Policy, De Montfort University, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK.
Email: ben.whitham@dmu.ac.uk
720430PSW0010.1177/1478929917720430Political Studies ReviewWhitham
research-article2017
Article
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