The morals of the market : human rights and the rise of neoliberalism
Jessica Whyte (Autor)
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. 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. Whyte demonstrates the importance of coming to terms with these origins. Unless that is done, she argues, those who mobilize human rights to contest neoliberalism may instead find that they strengthen its hold. --From publisher description
Libro impreso, English, 2019
Verso, London, 2019