Schmidt Publishes Resilient Liberalism in Europe's Political Economy
My co-edited contribution to Cambridge University Press's Contemporary European Politics series has been released in the UK and will be available in the US by the end of the month. The book - Resilient Liberalism in European Political Economy - explains why neoliberal economic ideas have not just survived, but thrived since the 1980s - taking Europe from boom to bust.
Abstract
Why have neo-liberal economic ideas been so resilient since the 1980s, despite major intellectual challenges, crippling financial and political crises, and failure to deliver on their promises? Why do they repeatedly return, not only to survive but to thrive? This groundbreaking book proposes five lines of analysis to explain the dynamics of both continuity and change in neo-liberal ideas: the flexibility of neo-liberalism's core principles; the gaps between neo-liberal rhetoric and reality; the strength of neo-liberal discourse in debates; the power of interests in the strategic use of ideas; and the force of institutions in the embedding of neo-liberal ideas. The book's highly distinguished group of authors shows how these possible explanations apply across the most important domains - fiscal policy, the role of the state, welfare and labour markets, regulation of competition and financial markets, management of the Euro, and corporate governance - in the European Union and across European countries.
About the editors
Vivien A. Schmidt is Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Professor of International Relations and Political Science at Boston University and Founding Director of Boston University's Center for the Study of Europe.Mark Thatcher is Professor in Comparative and International Politics in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
About the series
Contemporary European Politics presents the latest scholarship on the most important subjects in European politics. The world's leading scholars provide accessible, state-of-the-art surveys of the major issues which face Europe now and in the future. Examining Europe as a whole and taking a broad view of its politics, these volumes will appeal to scholars and to undergraduate and graduate students of politics and European studies.