Neoliberalism, New Labour and the Welfare State

Beech, Matt

Abstract

This chapter argues that the New Labour governments (1997–2010) were not a political project wholly based on neoliberal assumptions, as the “majority view” in the scholarship asserts. In the area of welfare policy New Labour adopted a modified social democratic approach that can be seen clearly through a variety of data points. The “minority view” posited in this chapter suggests that the governments of Blair and Brown can be seen as a hybrid of neoliberal and social democratic ideas and policies. This is a more accurate explanation of the ideational influence of neoliberalism on the Labour Party in office.

• Publication Date: 2017
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Pages: 118-130
• Book Title: Liberalism and the Welfare State: Economists & arguments for the Welfare State
• Chapter Number: 6
• ISBN: 978-0-19-067668-1
• APA6 Citation: Beech, M. (2017). Neoliberalism, New Labour and the Welfare State. In R. E. Backhouse, B. W. Bateman, T. Nishizawa, & D. Plehwe (Eds.), Liberalism and the Welfare State: Economists & arguments for the Welfare State, 118-130. Oxford University Press (OUP). https://doi.org/10.1093.../9780190676681.003.0007
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof%3Aoso/9780190676681.003.0007
• Keywords: New Labour; Neoliberalism; Welfare state; Social democracy; Tony Blair
• Publisher URL: https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190676681.001.0001/acprof-9780190676681-chapter-7