Introduction

Aled Davies; James Freeman; Hugh Pemberton

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Manchester University Press

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Kapitel

Introduction

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Abstract

This introduction outlines the three major contributions of our study. It argues that the story of an attempted neoliberal policy revolution, its failure, and the subsequent salvaging of evolutionary reforms is key to understanding how and why Britain was left with the most complex and least adequate pension system of any advanced capitalist economy in the early twenty-first century. The introduction explains that the case study of pensions reform reveals important new ways of thinking about the Thatcher governments and challenges us to grapple with ‘Thatcherism’ as a more dynamic, less stable, yet deliberate project that was very often constructed 'in flight'. Moreover, it argues that a focus on policy history and newly released archival material can bring together disconnected approaches to international neoliberalism and establish a more tangible – and more nuanced – understanding of neoliberal influence and legacy. The introduction then establishes the groundwork for the book’s analysis. It describes the crisis facing Britain’s pensions system early in the twenty-first century and positions the book’s story of policy change within wider historical narratives about the transformation of Britain’s economy, culture and society in the ‘long’ 1980s. The introduction assesses how far these transformations can be understood through the lenses of politics, neoliberalism, and a break with the postwar ‘consensus’ before reviewing two central features of our approach: the historical study of neoliberalism and political science theories of policy/institutional change. The introduction concludes by defining the book’s key terms and outlining its structure.

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