The Morals of the Market
Human Rights and the Rise of Neoliberalism
Published on 5. November 2019
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-1-78663-346-0 (ISBN)
Description
The fatal embrace of human rights and neoliberalism
Drawing on detailed archival research on the parallel histories of human rights and neoliberalism, Jessica Whyte uncovers the place of human rights in neoliberal attempts to develop a moral framework for a market society. In the wake of the Second World War, neoliberals saw demands for new rights to social welfare and self-determination as threats to "civilisation". Yet, rather than rejecting rights, they developed a distinctive account of human rights as tools to depoliticise civil society, protect private investments and shape liberal subjects.
Drawing on detailed archival research on the parallel histories of human rights and neoliberalism, Jessica Whyte uncovers the place of human rights in neoliberal attempts to develop a moral framework for a market society. In the wake of the Second World War, neoliberals saw demands for new rights to social welfare and self-determination as threats to "civilisation". Yet, rather than rejecting rights, they developed a distinctive account of human rights as tools to depoliticise civil society, protect private investments and shape liberal subjects.
Reviews / Votes
Praise for Catastrophe and Redemption: The Political Thought of Giorgio Agamben: "A theoretical and political tour de force." - Law and Critique"Whyte identifies key questions which will need to be asked in order to transform this world. Such questions relate to challenging inequality, challenging capitalism's colonialism of the future, and creating new forms of solidarity. To address these issues, Whyte draws us to her conclusion - that it is not enough to accede to teleological formations of capitalism. We must begin to develop ways to contest it." - Theory and Event
"With its clarity, philosophical depth, and resolute insistence on cashing out the radical political stakes of his thought, it is a corrective to the superficiality and confusion that has marked the reception of Agamben's work, and an important contribution to contemporary political theory." - Critical Horizons
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
570 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78663-346-0 (9781786633460)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jessica Whyte is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of New South Wales. She is the author of Catastrophe and Redemption: The Political Thought of Giorgio Agamben.