The new way of the world : on neo-liberal society

What is new about neoliberalism? Pierre Dardot and Christian Laval contend that it is more than just a new economic paradigm — it is a system for transforming the human subject. Rather than a return to classic liberalism, or the restoration of a ‘pure’, unconstrained market, neoliberalism envisages the modern corporation as a model for government, conjuring a future in which society is nothing other than a web of market-based relations. Cutting through contemporary misunderstandings about its genesis and prevalence, Dardot and Laval distil neoliberalism to its core meaning and examine how it might be challenged on new political and intellectual terms. "__The New Way of the World__ is the best modern realization of Foucault's pioneering approach to the history of neoliberalism. It wonderfully explores the European roots and branches of the neoliberal thought collective over the twentieth century, and warns that unthinking misrepresentations of its political project as espousing 'laissez-faire' has had the effect of allowing the Left to submit to its siren song." --Philip Mirowski "To understand these debates [on neoliberalism], the book by Christian Laval and Pierre Dardot on the 'neoliberal society' offers us analytical keys. This monument of scholarship draws on the history of ideas, philosophy and sociology." --__Le Monde__ "Extremely scholarly, this book is an insistent invitation to push theoretical and social critique of the present order beyond the standard analyses." --__Le Monde diplomatique__ **Pierre Dardot** is a philosopher and specialist in Hegel and Marx. **Christian Laval** is Professor of Sociology at the Universite de Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense. They are co-authors of __Sauver Marx? Empire, multitude, travail immateriel__ and __Marx, prenom: Karl__. **With full table of contents** Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Acknowledgements Introduction to the English Edition A Diagnostic Error The Limitations of Marxism The General Crisis of a Way of Governing Human Beings Part One: The Intellectual Reformation 1: The Crisis of Liberalism and the Birth of Neo-Liberalism An Unduly Narrow Ideology The Precocious Concern of De Tocqueville and Mill The Defence of the Free Market Against State Superstition The Dual Action of the State According to Karl Polanyi 2: The Walter Lippmann Colloquium, or The Reinvention of Liberalism Against Liberal Naturalism The Agenda of a Reinvented Liberalism The Rule of Law A Government of Elites 3: Ordo-liberalism Between ‘Economic Policy’ and ‘Policy of Society’ The Small Enterprise as the Remedy for Proletarianization The Third Way 4: Entrepreneurial Man Critique of Interventionism A New Conception of the Market The Market and Knowledge Forming the New Mass Entrepreneur 5: The Strong State as Guardian of Private Law The Strong State Rather Than Democracy Part Two: The New Rationality 6: The Great Turn The Expansion of Financial Capitalism 7: The Ordo-Liberal Origins of the Construction of Europe Archaeology of the Principles of the European Constitutional Treaty European Construction Under the Influence 8: Entrepreneurial Government Global Governance Without Global Government The Model of the Enterprise The Hypothesis of the Egotistical and Rational Actor Public Choice and the New Public Management Competition at the Heart of State Activity A Technology of Control Managerialism and Political Democracy 9: Manufacturing the Neo-Liberal Subject The Plural Subject and the Separation of Spheres The Modelling of Society by the Enterprise From Efficiency to Performance Conclusion: The Depletion of Liberal Democracy An A-democratic Rationality An Apparatus of a Strategic Kind Inventing a Different Governmentality ‘Counter-Conducts’ as Practices of Subjectivation Exploring The Genesis Of Neoliberalism, And The Political And Economic Circumstances Of Its Deployment, Pierre Dardot And Christian Laval Dispel Numerous Common Misconceptions. Neoliberalism Is Neither A Return To Classical Liberalism Nor The Restoration Of Pure Capitalism. To Misinterpret Neoliberalism Is To Fail To Understand What Is New About It: Far From Viewing The Market As A Natural Given That Limits State Action, Neoliberalism Seeks To Construct The Market And Make The Firm A Model For Governments. Only Once This Is Grasped Will Its Opponents Be Able To Meet The Unprecedented Political And Intellectual Challenge It Poses-- Acknowledgements -- Introduction To The English Edition -- Part 1. The Intellectual Reformation -- 1. The Crisis Of Liberalism And The Birth Of Neo-liberalism -- 2. The Walter Lippmann Colloquium, Or The Reinvention Of Liberalism -- 3. Ordo-liberalism Between 'economic Policy' And 'policy Of Society' -- 4. Entrepreneurial Man -- 5. The Strong State As Guardian Of Private Law -- Part 2. The New Rationality -- 6. The Great Turn -- 7. The Ordo-liberal Origins Of The Construction Of Europe -- 8. Entrepreneurial Government -- 9. Manufacturing The Neo-liberal Subject -- Conclusion: The Depletion Of Liberal Democracy -- Index. Pierre Dardot, Christian Laval ; [translated By] Gregory Elliott. Includes Bibliographical References And Index A far-reaching deconstruction of neoliberalism's economic agenda, political imposition and mystifying techniques A far-reaching deconstruction of neoliberalism's economic agenda, political imposition and mystifying techniques Exploring the genesis of neoliberalism, and the political and economic circumstances of its deployment, Pierre Dardot and Christian Laval dispel numerous common misconceptions. Neoliberalism is neither a return to classical liberalism nor the restoration of "pure" capitalism. To misinterpret neoliberalism is to fail to understand what is new about it: far from viewing the market as a natural given that limits state action, neoliberalism seeks to construct the market and use it as a model for governments. Only once this is grasped will its opponents be able to meet the unprecedented political and intellectual challenge it poses "Exploring the genesis of neoliberalism, and the political and economic circumstances of its deployment, Pierre Dardot and Christian Laval dispel numerous common misconceptions. Neoliberalism is neither a return to classical liberalism nor the restoration of "pure" capitalism. To misinterpret neoliberalism is to fail to understand what is new about it: far from viewing the market as a natural given that limits state action, neoliberalism seeks to construct the market and make the firm a model for governments. Only once this is grasped will its opponents be able to meet the unprecedented political and intellectual challenge it poses"-- Provided by publisher