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The Politics of Expertise: Neoliberalism, Governance and the Practice of Politics

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Assembling Neoliberalism

Abstract

This chapter concerns neoliberalism and its “others” and how the relationship between them is mediated through different forms of expertise. Neoliberalism is often viewed as displacing old forms of expertise: those associated with Fordist economies and hierarchical orderings of power. But if neoliberalism is treated not as a solid, unitary form but as an assemblage of multiple—and sometimes competing—regimes of power, this opens up a different image of expertise. My focus in this chapter is on those working across and negotiating these multiple forms, developing new forms of expertise while also managing their relationship with “traditional” forms of power/knowledge, and exploiting the contradictions that result.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    Janet Newman

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  1. Janet Newman
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia

    Vaughan Higgins

  2. Office of the Provost, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Wendy Larner

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Newman, J. (2017). The Politics of Expertise: Neoliberalism, Governance and the Practice of Politics. In: Higgins, V., Larner, W. (eds) Assembling Neoliberalism. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58204-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58204-1_5

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-58203-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-58204-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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