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Neoliberalism as a political rationality: Australian public policy since the 1980s
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Neoliberalism as a political rationality: Australian public policy since the 1980s

M. Beeson and A. Firth
Journal of Sociology, Vol.34(3), pp.215-231
1998
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Abstract

Since the 1980s a remarkable transformation has occurred in the rationale that informs public policy in Australia. This transformation reflects a fundamental change in the way national economies and populations are conceived by policy-makers, and has led to the emergence of new strategies of governance as a consequence. We argue that this change of direction in Australian public policy may be best thought of as a specific neoliberal 'political rationality'. The first section of the paper outlines changes in conceptions of the economy and subjectivity which are associated with neoliberalism as a political rationality. The second part of the paper examines the articulation and implementation of neoliberalism in Australia over the last couple of decades.

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