Never Ending Nightmare: The Neoliberal Assault on Democracy

by Pierre Dardot, Christian Laval, Gregory Elliott (Translator)

Overview

Neoliberalism's war against democracy and how to resist it

How do we explain the strange survival of the forces responsible for the 2008 economic crisis, one of the worst since 1929? How do we explain the fact that neoliberalism has emerged from the crisis strengthened? When it broke, a number of the most prominent economists hastened to announce the 'death' of neoliberalism. They regarded the pursuit of neoliberal policy as the fruit of dogmatism.

For Pierre Dardot and Christian Laval, neoliberalism is no mere dogma. Supported by powerful oligarchies, it is a veritable politico-institutional system that obeys a logic of self-reinforcement. Far from representing a break, crisis has become a formidably effective mode of government.

In showing how this system crystallized and solidified, the book explains that the neoliberal straitjacket has succeeded in preventing any course correction by progressively deactivating democracy. Increasing the disarray and demobilization, the so-called 'governmental' Left has actively helped strengthen this oligarchical logic. The latter could lead to a definitive exit from democracy in favour of expertocratic governance, free of any control.

However, nothing has been decided yet. The revival of democratic activity, which we see emerging in the political movements and experiments of recent years, is a sign that the political confrontation with the neoliberal system and the oligarchical bloc has already begun.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786634740
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	04/16/2019
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Pierre Dardot is a philosopher and specialist of Hegel and Marx. His previous books include The New Way of the World (with Christian Laval).

Christian Laval is Professor of Sociology at the Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense.

Table of Contents

Preface: Anatomy of the New Neoliberalism xi

Introduction: From Bad to Worse 1

1 Governing by Crisis 9

Oligarchy against Democracy 10

The Radicalization of Neoliberalism 14

Crisis as a Method of Government 17

Crisis as a Weapon of War 23

2 The Neoliberal Project: An Anti-Democratic Project 29

Against 'Popular Sovereignty' 31

The Pre-eminence of Private Law over Government and State 33

'Demarchys' or the Constitutionalization of Private Law 36

The Ordo-Liberal Idea of an 'Economic Constitution' 39

3 Neoliberal System and Capitalism 49

The Disciplinary System of Competition 50

The Neoliberal System and the 'Laws' of Capital 55

Extending the Boundaries of the Appropriation of Nature Ever Further 61

Limitlessness as a Regime of Subjectivity 64

4 The European Union, or, The Empire of Norms 75

The 'European Project': From Narrative of Origins to Historical Reality 76

The Construction of the Mega Market 81

The 'Expertocratic' Governance of the European Union 86

Budget and Currency as Disciplinary Tools 91

In What Way Is the European Union 'Social'? 95

5 The Debt Noose 99

Debt as a Government Tool 100

A New Conception of 'Sovereignty' 103

Whatever It Takes 107

A Logic of Political War 109

'Debtocracy', or, The Sovereign Power of Creditors 111

Societies Enslaved to Debt 115

6 The Neoliberal Oligarchic Bloc 123

Agents of Radicalization 124

Professional Politics and Neoliberal Domination 127

Systemic Corruption 130

The Age of Corporate Power 134

The Osmosis of Banks and Senior Civil Servants 139

Economic Expertise and the Mediatic Shaping of Reality 143

The Oligarchic Bloc and the Right-Wing Left 146

Conclusions: Democracy as Experimenting with the Commons 149

A Historical Crisis of the Left 150

The Experience of the Commons against Expertocracy 155

The Strategy of the Democratic Bloc 159

Index 171

Editorial Reviews

For the most maximalist theorists of neoliberalism in thought and practice, look no further.”
—Quinn Slobodian, author of Globalists : The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism

“Dardot and Laval present the post-2008 radicalization of neoliberalism as a nightmare and an opportunity. The nightmare is the stranglehold of a system of norms and treaties that benefit the oligarchy while immiserating the rest of us. The opportunity stems from the complete break between the elites and everybody else; neoliberalism has lost even the veneer of legitimacy. The challenge facing the Left is whether we can develop the political vision – and capacity – that will make this an opportunity for us.”
—Jodi Dean, author of The Communist Horizon and Crowds and Party

“Building on their previous historical analysis of neoliberal rationality, Dardot and Laval now paint a much starker, more terrifying portrait of neoliberalism, that is alert to its violence and unyielding political logic. Never Ending Nightmare presents us with a bleak but compelling account of how neoliberal government has abandoned all pretence of democratic legitimacy.”
—William Davies, author of Nervous States: How Feeling Took Over the World

“Dardot and Laval’s provocative study offers important insights with regard to the current state of radicalization of neoliberalism. Although the interpretation of the EU as a quintessential ordoliberal project will surely trigger objections, their emphasis on legal norms as social technology to advance neoliberal transformations is very well taken. Critical examination of forms of neoliberal oligarchy goes beyond staples of post-democracy. Aficionados of both national populism and traditional party organizations will dislike their message for those on the left who are keen to develop an alternative imaginary of the future.”
—Dieter Plehwe, co-editor of The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making of the Neoliberal Thought Collective

From the Publisher