The Age of Crisis, 1st ed. 2021 Neoliberalism, the Collapse of Democracy, and the Pandemic

This book offers an analysis of the causes, development, and likely consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for global neoliberalism. The analysis will draw upon the author?s previous work on neoliberalism, and on its twin crises: the economic crisis (the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), ongoing since 2007) and, subsequently, the crisis of political democracy that has been associated with the rise of ?spectacular? authoritarian leaders in several countries. The approach is grounded on Marxist political economy.

The book argues that the Covid-19 pandemic emerges out of this context of deep inequalities and crises in the economy and in politics, and it is likely to reinforce the exclusionary tendencies of neoliberalism, with detrimental implications both for economic prosperity and for democracy. In turn, the pandemic has revealed the limitations of neoliberalism like never before, with implications for the legitimacy of capitalism itself, and opening unprecedented spaces for theleft.

This book will be of interest to academics in economics, international relations, political science, political economy, sociology and development studies.

1. The Economic Paradox of Neoliberalism.- 2. The Economic Crisis.- 3. The Political Paradox of Neoliberalism.- 4. The Crisis of Democracy.- 5. Covid-19: A Pandemic with Neoliberal Characteristics.- 6. The Political Implications of the Pandemic.- 7. The Future(s) of Neoliberalism.

Alfredo Saad-Filho is Professor of Political Economy and International Development at King’s College, London, UK.