Adapting to the market: leftist ideological justifications of liberal economic policies, 1977-1986

Crespi De Valldaura G, Virginia and Fifi, Gianmarco (2024) Adapting to the market: leftist ideological justifications of liberal economic policies, 1977-1986. New Political Economy. ISSN 1356-3467

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Abstract

Why do leftist forces accept, support and adopt free-market policies? To answer this question, we carry out a comparative study of left-wing groups (both parties and trade unions) in France, Italy and Spain during the late 1970s and the early 1980s. This period is widely acknowledged in international political economy to have represented a paradigm shift from post-war Keynesianism to neoliberal policy-making. We employ in-depth content analysis of memoirs, interviews to the press, opinion articles and policy-papers to explain actors’ positions on landmark policies implemented during such transition. In alignment with a developing literature in political economy (e.g. Mudge 2018), we find a proactive role of progressives in developing the ideological justification for the resort to liberal policies. However, we emphasise that widespread consensus among so-called progressives, rather than a leading role of technocrats or party experts, best explains such shifts. In this way, the paper casts doubts on interpretations of the liberalisation process that place excessive emphasis on the role of external constraints as well as on elite power. Drawing on Hall (1993), we argue that left-wing forces in the early 1980s have enacted a ‘second order change’, whereby policymakers use new instruments to meet existing policy objectives.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/uter20
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Authors
Divisions:	European Institute
Subjects:	J Political Science H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
Date Deposited:	23 Apr 2024 10:12
Last Modified:	16 Jul 2024 07:36
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/122747

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