Governing Practices

"Governing Practices is a fascinating collection of case-studies that break open taken-for-granted assumptions about what neoliberalism is." -- Stephen J. Collier, Chair, Graduate Program in International Affairs, The New School "Governing Practices offers a welcome corrective to the tendency towards totalizing accounts of neoliberalism. It is an important volume that consolidates and pushes valuable forms of analysis and critique that have generally been confined to the margins, rather than the mainstream, of work on neoliberalism." -- Janet Newman, Emeritus Professor, Department of Social Policy and Criminology, The Open University

In Governing Practices, Michelle Brady and Randy Lippert bring together prominent scholars in sociology, criminology, anthropology, geography, and policy studies to extend and refine the current conversation about neoliberalism.

Neoliberalism is among the most commonly used concepts in the social sciences. Furthermore, it is one of the most influential factors that have shaped the formation of public policy and politics.

In Governing Practices, Michelle Brady and Randy Lippert bring together prominent scholars in sociology, criminology, anthropology, geography, and policy studies to extend and refine the current conversation about neoliberalism. The collection argues that a new methodological approach to analyzing contemporary policy and political change is needed. United by the common influence of Foucault’s governmentality approach and an ethnographic imaginary, the collection presents original research on a diverse range of case studies including public-private partnerships, the governance of condos, community and state statistics, nanopolitics, philanthropy, education reform, and pay-day lending. These diverse studies add considerable depth to studies on governmentality and neoliberalism through a focus on governmental practices that have not previously been the focus of sustained analysis.