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Revisiting ‘The Birth of Biopolitics’: Foucault's Account of Neoliberalism and the Remaking of Social Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2018

PAUL MICHAEL GARRETT
PAUL MICHAEL GARRETT*
Affiliation:
NUI Galway, Galway, Republic of Ireland email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The article charts the history and trajectory of neoliberalism provided in Foucault's 1979 lectures on ‘The Birth of Biopolitics’. In these fascinating contributions, first published in English translation ten years ago, Foucault identifies German and American forms of neoliberalism, defined in opposition to both the Beveridge reforms and Roosevelt's New Deal. In seeking to comprehend Foucault's articulation of neoliberalism it is important to locate it in the context of contemporary debates on the future of socialism and the reconfiguration of social policy. Despite theoretical problems with his account, the lecture series continues to aid our understanding of the contemporary evolution of social policy.

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 48 , Issue 3 , July 2019 , pp. 469 - 487
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018 

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