Chapter Six Rolling back to roll forward: depoliticisation and the extension of government
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Emma Ann Foster
Abstract
Premised on the assumption that depoliticisation is a crucial aspect of neo-liberal governmentality, this paper attempts to synergise these two, previously disparate, concepts. Borrowing from Foucault’s theorisation of governmentality and drawing from inclusive definitions of politics/the political, this paper argues for a reformulation of our understanding of depoliticisation and politicisation. The paper contends that depoliticisation is best understood as a technique of governing which works to legitimise neo-liberalism as the dominant political rationality. As such, the chapter argues that depoliticisation acts as a tool for masking the ‘rolling forward’ of the state and the proliferation of new forms of neo-liberal governmentality.
Abstract
Premised on the assumption that depoliticisation is a crucial aspect of neo-liberal governmentality, this paper attempts to synergise these two, previously disparate, concepts. Borrowing from Foucault’s theorisation of governmentality and drawing from inclusive definitions of politics/the political, this paper argues for a reformulation of our understanding of depoliticisation and politicisation. The paper contends that depoliticisation is best understood as a technique of governing which works to legitimise neo-liberalism as the dominant political rationality. As such, the chapter argues that depoliticisation acts as a tool for masking the ‘rolling forward’ of the state and the proliferation of new forms of neo-liberal governmentality.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors v
- Depoliticisation, governance and the state 1
- Rethinking depoliticisation: beyond the governmental 21
- Depoliticisation, governance and political participation 47
- Depoliticisation: economic crisis and political management 71
- Repoliticising depoliticisation: theoretical preliminaries on some responses to the American fiscal and Eurozone debt crises 95
- Rolling back to roll forward: depoliticisation and the extension of government 117
- (De)politicisation and the Father’s Clause parliamentary debates 139
- Politicising UK energy: what ‘speaking energy security’ can do 161
- Global norms, local contestation: privatisation and de/politicisation in Berlin 181
- Depoliticisation as process, governance as practice: what did the ‘first wave’ get wrong and do we need a ‘second wave’ to put it right? 203
- Thinking big: the political imagination 227
- Index 235
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors v
- Depoliticisation, governance and the state 1
- Rethinking depoliticisation: beyond the governmental 21
- Depoliticisation, governance and political participation 47
- Depoliticisation: economic crisis and political management 71
- Repoliticising depoliticisation: theoretical preliminaries on some responses to the American fiscal and Eurozone debt crises 95
- Rolling back to roll forward: depoliticisation and the extension of government 117
- (De)politicisation and the Father’s Clause parliamentary debates 139
- Politicising UK energy: what ‘speaking energy security’ can do 161
- Global norms, local contestation: privatisation and de/politicisation in Berlin 181
- Depoliticisation as process, governance as practice: what did the ‘first wave’ get wrong and do we need a ‘second wave’ to put it right? 203
- Thinking big: the political imagination 227
- Index 235
