Programmatic statements and dull empiricism: Foucault’s neo-liberalism and social policy

Clarke, John (2009). Programmatic statements and dull empiricism: Foucault’s neo-liberalism and social policy. Journal of Cultural Economy, 2(1) pp. 227–231.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350903064378

Abstract

[First paragraph] Foucault’s lectures of 1979 offer an astonishingly early and suggestive survey of the rise, and varieties, of neo-liberalism. In this review, I do two things: first, I take up some of the key themes identified by Foucault and consider their significance for processes of welfare reform; and second, I problematize the relationship between programmatic statements and the policies and practices of governing welfare. Here I return to the dull empiricism of social policy as an academic subject and suggest that using social policy changes to illustrate large programmes may be a risky business.

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