The Spirit of Philadelphia
Social Justice vs. the Total Market
Published on 5. May 2020
160 pages
978-1-78960-169-5 (ISBN)
Description
In 1944, the International Labour Organization laid out its "Declaration of Philadelphia," a full-fledged social bill of rights in the same spirit as FDR's State of the Union address of the same year. The welfarist spirit was then at its apex-but Supiot argues that with neoliberalism still rampant, even following the economic crash, the Declaration remains an important baseline. Then as now, social ties had been compromised in favor of market values; now, as then, the law must be reorganized to uphold social values and the spirit of solidarity.
Short, punchy and often rousing, The Spirit of Philadelphia describes the worldwide triumph of neoliberalism as once-communist elites turn towards market dogma and the privatization of welfare states. Arguing against the return to social Darwinism, and the bureaucratic embrace of numbers and statistics as ends, Supiot champions the social democratic spirit, hoping for its revival in the wake of the recent crash.
Short, punchy and often rousing, The Spirit of Philadelphia describes the worldwide triumph of neoliberalism as once-communist elites turn towards market dogma and the privatization of welfare states. Arguing against the return to social Darwinism, and the bureaucratic embrace of numbers and statistics as ends, Supiot champions the social democratic spirit, hoping for its revival in the wake of the recent crash.
More details
Edition
Ebook UK & RoW
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Reflowable
ISBN-13
978-1-78960-169-5 (9781789601695)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
05/2012
Verso Books
€24.00
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Person
Alain Supiot is a permanent fellow at the University of Nantes, France and Director of the Nantes Institute for Advanced Studies. His previous books include Beyond Employment: Changes in Work, The Future of Labour Law in Europe and, from Verso, The Spirit of Philadelphia.
Content
- Cover Page
- Halftitle Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Introduction
- Part I: Social Justice Betrayed
- 1. The Holy Union of Communism and Capitalism
- The Neo-Liberal Counterrevolution
- The Metamorphoses of 'Social Europe'
- The Communist Market Economy
- 2. The Privatisation of the Welfare State
- 3. The Total Market
- Darwinian Legal Selection
- The Race to the Bottom in Social Protection
- 4. The Mirage of Quantification
- Governance by Numbers
- The Pitfalls of Self-Reference
- Part II: Achieving Social Justice Today
- 5. The Art of Limits
- The Privatisation of Laws
- The Return of Feudalism
- The Limits of Dependence
- 6. A Sense of Measure
- The Unit of Measure: Social Justice
- A Diversity of Representational Systems: The Practice of Measure
- 7. The Capacity to Act
- 8. The Onus of Responsibility
- 9. Circles of Solidarity
- Notes
- Appendix: The Declaration Of Philadelphia, 10 May 1944
- Declaration Concerning the Aims and Purposes of the International Labour Organisation
