The blog entry linked below is by a left-leaning academic, criticizing the way the left has responded to modern capitalism, and in particular to recent calls for ‘austerity’ in Europe. This is useful for multiple reasons. It should be especially welcome among thoughtful members of the left, who need to engage in more thoughtful analysis of why their ideas don’t have the traction one might expect them to these days. >>>
LINK: The problem with center-left critiques of neoliberalism (by Martijn Konings for Roar)
…The Polanyian preoccupation with the idea that there exist inherent social and political limits to the expansion of market logics, and its reliance on conspiratorial explanations for why those limits are not being enforced, are really just distractions from the real question of why we are so invested in the logic of neoliberal capitalism.
It is reflective of the malaise of present-day progressivism that it can only understand formulations such as the latter as encouraging a retreat from political action….
What do you think?
Note: For a critique of the term “neoliberalism” by a left-leaning academic, see here.
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If there is consistent evidence in polling data that a majority of US (and probably Canadian) voters believe that economic inequality is excessive then it is not problematic for the left to express concern about austerity. The Gallup Poll reported this in 2014:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/166904/dissatisfied-income-wealth-distribution.aspx
Perhaps “economic illiteracy” is widespread.