Thanks to the rise of neoliberalism over the past several decades, we live in an era of rampant anxiety, insecurity, and inequality. While neoliberalism has become somewhat of an academic buzzword in recent years, this book offers a rich and multilayered introduction to what is arguably the most pressing issue of our times. Engaging with prominent scholarship in media and cultural studies, as well as geography, sociology, economic history, and political theory, author Julie Wilson pushes against easy understandings of neoliberalism as market fundamentalism, rampant consumerism, and/or hyper-individualism. Instead, Wilson invites readers to interrogate neoliberalism in true cultural studies fashion, at once as history, theory, practice, policy, culture, identity, politics, and lived experience. Indeed, the book’s primary aim is to introduce neoliberalism in all of its social complexity, so that readers can see how neoliberalism shapes their own lives, as well as our political horizons, and thereby start to imagine and build alternative worlds.
Introduction
Living in Competition
Part I: Critical Foundations
Chapter One
A New Hegemony: The Rise of Neoliberalism
Chapter Two
Neoliberal Truths and Consequences: The 4 Ds
Chapter Three
The Cultural Powers of Neoliberalism: A Case Study
Part II: Neoliberal Culture
Chapter Four
The Hustle: Self-Enterprise and Neoliberal Labor
Chapter Five
The Moods of Enterprise: Neoliberal Affect and the Care of the Self
Chapter Six
Enterprising Democracy: Neoliberal Citizenship and the Privatization of Politics
Conclusion
Living in Common
Biography
Julie A. Wilson is Associate Professor, Allegheny College, Department of Communication Arts and Theatre. She is the author (with Emily Chivers Yochim) of Mothering through Precarity: Women's Work and Digital Media.
"Equal parts history, analysis and manifesto, Neoliberalism dissects the competitive, free market logic that defines our era.Wilson engages a dazzling range of theory and research in a highly accessible fashion, and brings this material to life with examples from schooling, popular media culture and politics. Especially geared to youth, this remarkable textbook shows how the rising inequalities and anxieties associated with neoliberalism can be resisted."-Laurie Ouellette, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
"This book is both a brilliant intellectual intervention and a vital teaching resource. Julie Wilson shows how abstract theories of neoliberalism relate to our everyday life experiences, offering us a range of critical tools for understanding neoliberal culture and pointing to how we might construct alternatives." -Jo Littler, City University of London
