Neil Stewart warms to Jamie Peck’s geographic approach to the development of neoliberal ideas as he visits Vienna, Chicago, and the LSE, but is left disappointed by the insufficient connections made between theory and policy.

Stewart, Neil

English

Research Papers in Economics

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/2011/03/27/book-review-constructions-of-neoliberal-reason/?pfstyle=wp April 1, 2011
Book Review: Constructions of Neoliberal Reason
Neil Stewart warms to Jamie Peck’s geographic approach to the development of neoliberal
ideas as he visits Vienna, Chicago, and the LSE, but is left disappointed by the insufficient
connections made between theory and policy.
Constructions of Neoliberal Reason. Jamie Peck. Oxford University Press. January 2011.
Find this book at: Google Books Amazon LSE Library
Jamie Peck’s Constructions of Neoliberal Reason is a timely, if not
fault-free, examination of the secret history and current
manifestations of neoliberalism. These manifestations have direct
relevance to Britain in the age of post-crash austerity. Peck, a
researcher at the University of British Columbia, is concerned with
showing the history of neoliberalism as an economic theory, and
how this theory was and is both intellectually and sociologically
constructed. Following from this, Peck shows how these unstable
and contested versions of neoliberalism have been applied in the
real world. Peck is concerned to show the interplay between ideas
and events, and how neoliberal ideas have had varying and
contingent but very real effects on economic policy and government.
The first half of the book gives fascinating insights into the
development of neoliberalism, along a geographical path from
Friedrich Von Hayek‘s Vienna to Milton Friedman‘s Chicago, with a
short detour via LSE in the figure of Lionel Robbins. By taking this
geographical approach, Peck is able to tease out the way in which
neoliberal ideas have been both responses to the wider world, as
well as rooted in the specific times and places of the thinkers in question. For example, Peck shows
that the Chicago School, based at the University of Chicago, developed its ideas as a result of its
hothouse atmosphere and opposition to the perceived East Coast Ivy League economics
establishment. This revealing use of the sociology of knowledge undermines neoliberal claims to
being timelessly truthful.
Peck then shows how the various strands of neoliberalism have been put into practice, using three
case studies. The first is an excellent examination of the responses to crises in two cities, first the
fiscal crisis in New York in the 1970s to 1980s, and second looking to New Orleans in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina. Peck skewers some of the breathtakingly callous responses of right wing pundits
to these crises, and particularly to the latter case study. The human disaster of post-Katrina New
Orleans was deemed to be the fault of the victims, by neoliberal commentators intent on pushing
their own anti-welfare and anti-statist agendas.
The other two case studies, on the use of ‘creativity’ as a cure-all for post-industrial city
development, and President Obama’s economic policy, are less successful. In particular, the latter
study is a fairly standard take on the limitations of the Obama administration’s response to the
financial crisis. The intended message of both of these case studies seems to be ‘neoliberalism
pervades all governmental economic thinking’, but the link between neoliberal theory and economic
policy seems to be made insufficiently clear.
This problem points to a more general problem with the book, which is that it feels more like a
collection of insightful and erudite essays on disparate topics, rather than a coherent book with a
single argument. The first half sets you up to think the second half will show exactly how neoliberal
ideas have been put into practice, but this doesn’t really happen. Instead Peck writes about whatseem to be some of his favourite topics.
Having said this, the book’s strengths outweigh these weaknesses. The first section of the book,
concerned with the development of neoliberal ideas, is very thought provoking and provides a
much-needed critique of the genesis of this school of economic theory. I would also recommend the
book to anyone especially interested in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. More generally, the book
shows how neoliberal theory has become the main currency of economic thought, and has framed
the way policy and politics are practiced, on both sides of the Atlantic. It’s just a pity that Peck
doesn’t follow this demonstration up with a better analysis of current strains of neoliberal policy and
politics.
Neil Stewart is an assistant librarian at LSE Library.
Find this book at:  Google Books Amazon LSE Library

Book review: constructions of neoliberal reason.

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