Contesting the Australian Way: States, Markets and Civil Society

by Paul Smyth, Bettina Cass

Overview

Since the 1980s Australian public policy has been perceived as being in crisis. Many argue that consolidating the market imperative in economic and social policy is the solution. Here, a leading group of writers challenge this view, calling for reassertion of a "mixed" rather than a "market" economy, and for reaffirmation of the egalitarianism that has characterized past Australian social policy. Asking whether economic and social policy can be reintegrated in a shared vision, this groundbreaking book argues the case for reinventing government rather than marginalizing it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521633062
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/11/1999
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.67(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction Paul Smyth; Part I. Overviews: States, Markets and Private Life: 1. States, markets and the global dimension: an overview of certain issues in political economy Hugh Emy; 2. The social policy context Bettina Cass; Part II. Historical Perspectives: Australian Settlements?: 3. The Australian 'settlement' and Australian political thought Graham Maddox; 4. The Australian way Jill Roe; 5. Remaking the Australian way: the Keynsian compromise Paul Smyth; 6. Unmaking the Australian Keynsian way Tim Battin; Part III. Public Institutions, Civil Society and Social Movements: 7. Public sector reform and the Australian way Lionel Orchard; 8. Government and civil society: restructuring community services Deborah Brennan; 9. Social movements, democracy and conflicts over institutional reform Jocelyn Pixley; Part IV. Transformations of Economy and State: 10. Economic restructuring in Australia: policy settlements, models of economic development and the new neoliberalism Stephen Bell; 11. Economic rationalism: social philosophy masquerading as economic science, J. W. Nevile; 12. Industry policy: conflict and consensus Roy Green; Part V. The New (In)Compatibilites: The Welfare State and Competitive Markets: 13. Is Australia particularly unequal? Inequality in Australia: the traditional and the new view Peter Whiteford; 14. A competitive future: the Industry Commission and the welfare sector John Ernst; 15. 'Working Nation' as market bureaucracy: the introduction of competition policy in case management Michael Wearing and Paul Smyth.

Editorial Reviews

"...this is a well-edited book, and its stated goal, to 'rethink the idea of a mixed economy.' (13), is of interest to a range of audiences. The editors deserve credit for maintaining thematic coherence across the book's fived sections and for keeping chapters to a manageable length for such a wide-ranging volume." Canadian Journal of Political Science

From the Publisher