I’ve written for London Review of Books about the crisis of inflation and rising interest rates in the UK, and the wider ideological climate.
‘Pain, no gain’
‘The post-neoliberal moment’
I was interviewed by Evgeny Morozov on ‘post-neoliberalism’, as part of a series of interviews and discussions published by The Syllabus. For more on ‘post-neoliberalism’, see the special issue of Theory Culture & Society I co-edited on the topic.
‘Madman Economics’
Article in London Review of Books about the new economic turmoil in Britain, and how the Tories have abandoned traditional neoliberal reverence for ‘the markets’.
Trussonomics will be a reckless exercise in slashing the state when there’s nothing left to cut
Opinion piece in The Guardian on the revival of failed ‘supply-side’ economic dogma, as the inspiration of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng.
‘The Problem of Trust in the Digital Public Sphere’
In February I was invited by Marion Fourcade to give a lecture at Social Science Matrix, UC Berkeley. The lecture, based on various recent arguments and pieces of mine on neoliberalism, platforms and the crisis of liberalism, was entitled ‘The Problem of Trust in the Digital Public Sphere’. You can watch it here.
‘Post-Neoliberalism?’
Nicholas Gane and I have co-edited a special issue of Theory Culture & Society on the theme of ‘Post-neoliberalism?’. It features articles by Melinda Cooper, Quinn Slobodian, Dorit Geva, Roger Burrows and Harrison Smith, Alan Finlayson, Nicholas Gane and me, on various aspects of the challenges to neoliberalism, especially those from the political Right. The special issue was accepted and the pieces commissioned prior to 2020, so they don’t confront the most recent upheavals and challenges to the political-economic order. However, the Introduction (which is open access) does address the significance of the Covid-19 pandemic, and what it means for the status of ‘neoliberalism’.
The holiday of exchange value
Blogpost written for the Goldsmiths Political Economy Research Centre, looking at the coronavirus crisis from the perspective of economic sociology of markets.
Review of Matthew Watson’s The Market, published in Theory Culture & Society.
How did ‘the market’ become a thing?
Politics, Power, Change – Novara FM
Discussion with James Butler and Eleanor Penny, broadcast 14th July 2017.
What is “neo” about Neoliberalism?
Article in New Republic, excerpted from new edited collection, Liberalism in Neoliberal Times, published by Goldsmiths Press
Essay: Populism & the Limits of Neoliberalism
The surge in so-called ‘populism’ over the past year, largely of a right-wing variety, has provoked an ongoing debate as to how we should characterise its central driver. To put this somewhat crudely (though not much more crudely than some of the debate’s protagonists), the choice comes down to a simple binary: economics or culture? Class or identity? An awkward new category of ‘the left behind’ has emerged in political discourse to capture the unexpected supporters of Donald Trump, Brexit, Marine Le Pen and other nationalist movements. Continue reading “Essay: Populism & the Limits of Neoliberalism”
‘The Big Mystique‘, a review of The Courage to Act by Ben Bernanke and The End of Alchemy, by Mervyn King, published in London Review of Books in January (paywalled).
Review essay on central banking
Review of Margaret Thatcher by David Cannadine
A review of David Cannadine’s short biography of Margaret Thatcher, published in The Guardian in January 2017
This conference took place at City University, London in December 2016. Listen to my talk here (starts at 3′). Other information and recordings available here.
William Davies 