Race and the Origins of American Neoliberalism

This book explores the relation between race and neoliberalism in the US, arguing that the origins of neoliberalism in the US are rooted in the constellation of cultural, political, and economic developments in the white response to the black civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Analyzing the cultural politics that embedded a racially coded language of white=private/black=public into social policy, the book shows that while the white response did not create neoliberalism directly, it did provide the context for white support in favor of privatizing public works, fiscal austerity to control local budgets, and a monastic opposition to taxes in the United States.

Randolph Hohle is currently an Assistant Professor of Sociology at SUNY Fredonia.

1. Introduction 2. "The American Viewpoint with a Southern Accent": The Language of Neoliberalism Part 1: Taxes and Regulations 3. Business Subsidies and Regressive Taxation: Economic Development in Mississippi 4. The Shifting Economic Paradigm: Tax Credits and Road Building in Alabama 5. Neoliberal Urbanization: Race, Zoning, and Tax Revolts Part 2: Fiscal Austerity and Privatization 6. Privatization and School Desegregation in Alabama 7. Austerity and Total Control over Mississippi's School System 8. The Diffusion of Neoliberalism from the South to the North: Schools and "Forced Busing." Conclusion: Resiliency and Resistance in the Neoliberal Era. Appendix 1