A neoliberal revolution?

Thatcherism and the reform of British pensions

By: Dr Aled Davies, Dr James Freeman, Hugh Pemberton

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Hardcover | 30 July 2024

At a Glance

Hardcover
418 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.4 x 15.6 x 2.39

Hardcover

$260.69

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This book examines the Thatcher government's attempt to revolutionise Britain's pensions system in the 1980s and create a nation of risk-taking savers with an individual stake in capitalism.

Drawing upon recently-released archival records, it shows how the ideas motivating these reforms journeyed from the writings of neoliberal intellectuals into government and became the centrepiece of a plan to abolish significant parts of the UK's welfare state and replace these with privatised personal pensions. Revealing a government that veered between political caution and radicalism, the book explains why this revolution failed and charts the malign legacy left by the evolutionary changes that ministers salvaged from the wreckage of their reforms.

The book contributes to understanding of policy change, Thatcherism, and international neoliberalism by showing how major reforms to social security could reflect neoliberal thought and yet profoundly disappoint their architects.

Industry Reviews

CHOICE Recommended:
'This capstone book by three academics widely known in modern British politics and social policy is key to understanding the policy and politics of the Thatcher era of the late 1970s and 1980s, one of the most important eras in modern British history.'
M. J. Moore, emeritus, Appalachian State University

'We are still living, the authors note, "with the consequences of policies salvaged from a failed revolution". ... What also comes through powerfully in their account are the poor judgment and faulty political instincts of nearly everyone involved.'
Professor Helen McCarthy, University of Cambridge

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