Neo-democracy: ‘useful idiot’ of neo-liberalism?

Gearty, Conor (2016) Neo-democracy: ‘useful idiot’ of neo-liberalism? British Journal of Criminology . ISSN 0007-0955

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Abstract

This article explores a possible link between ‘neo-democratic’ states (the subject of a recent book by the author) and the underlying politico-economic ideology of our post-1989 world, neo-liberalism. Taking the United Kingdom and the United States as examples, it argues that the shift in our way of looking at the world that neo-liberalism represents involves a forsaking of many of the assumptions of the social democratic polity of the 20th century. However, this is not a leap into an unknown future so much as it is a return to a particular past. In the threatened transition to fully fledged neo-liberalism, ‘neo-democracy’ fulfils a useful role as mask that hides from us the great political, ethical and legal changes entailed in such a move.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/
Additional Information:	© 2016 The Author
Library of Congress subject classification:	J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Sets:	Departments > Law
Date Deposited:	29 Feb 2016 15:30
URL:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/65561/

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