Neoliberalism in (Regional) Theory and Practice

The Stronger Communities Action Fund in New Zealand

Bibliographic Data

ID5877268
AuthorsW Larner (0000-0002-4189-2135, University of Bristol, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume43
Issue1
Pages9-18
Publication date2005-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographical Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1745-5863 • E-ISSN: 1745-5871
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1745-5871.2005.00294.x
OpenAlexW2151184609
LanguageEN
Citations received46

Neoliberalism is a term most often used by those working in the field of political economy, including human geographers, to refer to the new political preference for market mechanisms as a way of ensuring social and economic wellbeing. To date, however, analysts of neoliberalism have focused on the decline of the national economy, and on the erosion of universalist conceptions of social welfarism. Much less attention has been paid to the complex and contested processes through which new spaces, socialities and subjectivities are being constituted. Through a case study of the Stronger Communities Action Fund, this paper examines these new spaces, socialities and subjectivities of social policy, including the shift towards heterogeneous conceptions of community, the rise of community based expertise, and the centring of ‘etho-politics’. It concludes that neoliberalism is a more contradictory phenomenon than is often recognised. If analysts continue to portray neoliberalism as a monolithic project, and to emphasize what has been lost, rather than examining the complex trajectories of the new, they are much less likely to be sensitive to the different political possibilities offered in the current context

Geography · Human geography · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · New Zealand Economic and Social Studies · Political and Economic history of UK and US

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