Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated: The persistence of neoliberalism in Britain

Main author: Bayliss, Kate
Other authors: Fine, Ben
Robertson, Mary
Saad-Filho, Alfredo
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-41823
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description Recent declarations of the end of neoliberalism in the United Kingdom, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, are underpinned by diffuse and unstructured understandings of the neoliberal state. We argue that state intervention is both necessary and unavoidable under neoliberalism. This article shows that the ‘market-based’ reforms and the ‘rollback of the state’ that overtly characterise neoliberalism are heavily reliant upon public policy and entail an ongoing role for state intervention both over time and across economic sectors. Using sectoral case studies of housing and water from within the United Kingdom, we demonstrate, through a tight analytical framing of both financialisation and commodification, the variegated though crucial role of the neoliberal state in restructuring provision to facilitate financialised accumulation and their transformations in response to the contradictions, dysfunctions and limitations of neoliberalised social reproduction.
format Journal Article
author Bayliss, Kate
author_facet Bayliss, Kate
Fine, Ben
Robertson, Mary
Saad-Filho, Alfredo
authorStr Bayliss, Kate
author_letter Bayliss, Kate
author2 Fine, Ben
Robertson, Mary
Saad-Filho, Alfredo
author2Str Fine, Ben
Robertson, Mary
Saad-Filho, Alfredo
title Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated: The persistence of neoliberalism in Britain
publisher Sage
publishDate 2024
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/41823/