IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsoctx/v8y2018i4p95-d172232.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Market Values and Youth Political Engagement in the UK: Towards an Agenda for Exploring the Psychological Impacts of Neo-Liberalism

Author

Listed:
  • Bradley Allsop

    (School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK)

  • Jacqueline Briggs

    (School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK)

  • Ben Kisby

    (School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK)

Abstract

This article seeks to develop a preliminary analysis of how neo-liberal thought and policies have impacted on youth political engagement in the UK, specifically by attempting to understand how macro-economic and other public policies can influence the individual psychology of citizens and their subsequent behaviour. The article sets out a clear definition and explanation of neo-liberalism and summarises six key neo-liberal impacts particularly pertinent to political engagement: marketisation and the tension this brings with democratic norms; responsibilisation narratives; increased inequality; the changing character of the state through privatisation and deregulation; the preference among policy-makers for ‘expert rule’; and repression of labour. It argues that the main psychological effects that result, and which underpin and define the personal experience of neo-liberal policy, are declines in political efficacy and increases in individualism, the ramifications of which for political engagement are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Bradley Allsop & Jacqueline Briggs & Ben Kisby, 2018. "Market Values and Youth Political Engagement in the UK: Towards an Agenda for Exploring the Psychological Impacts of Neo-Liberalism," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-20, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:8:y:2018:i:4:p:95-:d:172232
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/8/4/95/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/8/4/95/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de Vries, Robert & Gosling, Samuel & Potter, Jeff, 2011. "Income inequality and personality: Are less equal U.S. states less agreeable?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(12), pages 1978-1985, June.
    2. Peck, Jamie, 2012. "Constructions of Neoliberal Reason," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199662081.
    3. Haas, Peter M., 1992. "Introduction: epistemic communities and international policy coordination," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(1), pages 1-35, January.
    4. James Hart & Matt Henn, 2017. "Neoliberalism and the Unfolding Patterns of Young People’s Political Engagement and Political Participation in Contemporary Britain," Societies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-19, November.
    5. Frederick Solt, 2008. "Economic Inequality and Democratic Political Engagement," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(1), pages 48-60, January.
    6. Federico Cingano, 2014. "Trends in Income Inequality and its Impact on Economic Growth," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 163, OECD Publishing.
    7. Niemi, Richard G. & Craig, Stephen C. & Mattei, Franco, 1991. "Measuring Internal Political Efficacy in the 1988 National Election Study," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 85(4), pages 1407-1413, December.
    8. Georgios Kyroglou & Matt Henn, 2017. "Political Consumerism as a Neoliberal Response to Youth Political Disengagement," Societies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-16, December.
    9. Jordahl, Henrik, 2007. "Inequality and Trust," Working Paper Series 715, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    10. Harvey, David, 2007. "A Brief History of Neoliberalism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199283279.
    11. Bram Lancee & Herman Werfhorst, 2011. "GINI DP 6: Income Inequality and Participation: A Comparison of 24 European Countries," GINI Discussion Papers 6, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bradley Allsop & Ben Kisby, 2019. "The “Youthquake” in British Politics: Myth or Reality?," Societies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-15, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Georgios Kyroglou & Matt Henn, 2017. "Political Consumerism as a Neoliberal Response to Youth Political Disengagement," Societies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Fikret Adaman & Yahya M. Madra, 2012. "Understanding Neoliberalism as Economization: The Case of the Ecology," Working Papers 2012/04, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.
    3. Daniel Nehring & Mariano Plotkin & Piroska Csúri & Nicolás Viotti, 2024. "Re-Thinking Therapeutic Cultures: Tracing Change and Continuity in a Time of Crisis and Change," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 29(2), pages 287-298, June.
    4. Steve Davies, 2020. "Think-tanks, policy formation, and the ‘revival’ of classical liberal economics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 465-479, December.
    5. Yahya Madra & Fikret Adaman, 2013. "Neoliberal reason and its forms:Depoliticization through economization," Working Papers 2013/07, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.
    6. Mark Edem Kunawotor & Godfred Alufar Bokpin & Charles Barnor, 2020. "Drivers of income inequality in Africa: Does institutional quality matter?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(4), pages 718-729, December.
    7. Ala, Alessandro S. & Lapsley, Irvine, 2019. "Accounting for crime in the neoliberal world," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(5).
    8. Shaina Potts, 2016. "Reterritorializing economic governance: Contracts, space, and law in transborder economic geographies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(3), pages 523-539, March.
    9. Pinkerton, Evelyn & Davis, Reade, 2015. "Neoliberalism and the politics of enclosure in North American small-scale fisheries," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 303-312.
    10. Bucelli, Irene, 2019. "Why we should care about poverty and inequality: exploring the grounds for a pluralist approach," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100139, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Nancy Holman & Alessandra Mossa & Erica Pani, 2018. "Planning, value(s) and the market: An analytic for “what comes next?â€," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(3), pages 608-626, May.
    12. Carlo Genova, 2018. "Youth Activism in Political Squats between Centri Sociali and Case Occupate," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-25, September.
    13. Schmidt, Vivien A., 2013. "Does discourse matter in the politics of building social pacts on social protection?: international experiences," Políticas Sociales 6194, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    14. Eric D Gould & Alexander Hijzen, 2016. "Growing Apart, Losing Trust? The Impact of Inequality on Social Capital," IMF Working Papers 2016/176, International Monetary Fund.
    15. James Hart & Matt Henn, 2017. "Neoliberalism and the Unfolding Patterns of Young People’s Political Engagement and Political Participation in Contemporary Britain," Societies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-19, November.
    16. Tromben, Varinia & Maldonado Valera, Carlos & Marinho, María Luisa & Robles, Claudia, 2022. "Social cohesion and inclusive social development in Latin America: A proposal for an era of uncertainties," Documentos de Proyectos 47884, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    17. Giorgio Calcagnini & Edgar J. Sanchez Carrera & Rosalba Rombaldoni, 2019. "EClustering Democracy and Inequality," Working Papers 1906, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2019.
    18. Matthew Sparke & Owain David Williams, 2022. "Neoliberal disease: COVID-19, co-pathogenesis and global health insecurities," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(1), pages 15-32, February.
    19. Pickett, Kate E. & Wilkinson, Richard G., 2015. "Income inequality and health: A causal review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 316-326.
    20. Claude Paraponaris, 2017. "Plateformes numériques, conception ouverte et emploi," Post-Print halshs-01614430, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:8:y:2018:i:4:p:95-:d:172232. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.