The book sheds light on the forms of neoliberalism's political rationality by highlighting the theoretical foundations upon which they are built. It relies on Foucault's account of neoliberal reason in terms of a governmental rationality encompassing all aspects of human life, as well as Critical Theory's methodology.

The book discloses the tensions and antinomies between the concepts neoliberalism resorts to for its own moral and theoretical justification and the historical forms of its realization. By combining the rigor of the normative principles of political philosophy with contemporary historical material, the book shows how neoliberalism realizes itself by negating liberty in its own name, undermining democracy, and annulling rights via their transformation into the morals of the new global market. The core argument permeating the book is that crises are the very condition of neoliberalism's existence. It states that, paradoxically enough, neoliberalism is facing the crises it itself produces by touching off new ones.

The book will appeal to students, scholars, and researchers of political science in general, and political theory, political philosophy, and political history in particular, interested in a better understanding of neoliberalism, democracy, and rights.

Highlights the theoretical foundations of neoliberalism's political rationality Relies on Foucault's account of neoliberal reason and Critical Theory's methodology Shows why crises are the very condition of neoliberalism's existence

Autorentext

Fotini Vaki is an Associate Professor for the History of Philosophy at the Department of History at Ionian University, Corfu, Greece. She holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Essex, UK. Vaki taught modern and contemporary Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Patras, Greece, (2003-4), the Department of Philosophy and Social Studies at the University of Crete, Greece, (2004-5), and at the Hellenic Open University (2003-2011). In 2011-12 she was a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Government at the London School of Economics, UK. Her research interests focus on the areas of modern and contemporary political and moral philosophy, and in particular, European Enlightenment, and Critical Theory. Vaki served as a Member of the Greek Parliament from 2015 to 2019.

Inhalt

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Liberalism, Classical and New: Continuity or Rupture?.- Chapter 3. Neoliberal State and Democracy.- Chapter 4. Neoliberalism, Crisis, and the State of Exception.- Chapter 5. The Right to Have Rights.- Chapter 6. Conclusion: Neoliberalism and Rights: The "Superfluous Lives".- Chapter 7. Addendum: Covid 19: A Political Virus.