The Last Empires: Governing Ourselves, Our Nations, and Our World

Description

This book is a forthright and novel examination of efforts to improve national and global governance over the last forty years. Much has changed since Michel Foucault considered, and rejected, economics and neoliberalism as a potential mechanism for individuals to govern themselves and their nations. Nonetheless, his approach, which focused on the evolution of social development through interaction of many disciplines and biopolitical forces, remains highly relevant. Neoliberalism became a dominant political force from the 1980s to the present. It has failed however to address issues of inequality, to ensure economic stability, or to tackle the problems of people and nations that have been marginalized by industrial progress and international conflict. Market forces alone cannot meet the needs of global society. Now, however, developments in behavioural theory, institutional theory and analysis, accounting theory and accountability practice are providing tools that are developing comprehensive and evidence-based measures of well-being that promise to broaden and strengthen the field of socio-economic policy-making. Resolute, albeit long-term, steps to establish widely accepted standards of accountability, the book argues, are essential to guide policies and address the formidable governance issues of global security, information technology, social inequality, and economic and financial crises that the world faces at the beginning of the 21st century. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxxiii Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Foucault’s Biopolitics and Its Relevance to Modern Social Science (William Allan)....Pages 3-37 Historical and Economic Roots of Neoliberalism (William Allan)....Pages 39-76 Front Matter ....Pages 77-78 From Neoliberalism to Social Accountability (William Allan)....Pages 79-104 Measuring Social Well-Being: GDP Is Neither Accurate Nor Fair (William Allan)....Pages 105-143 Tackling Inequality and Social Justice: A Global Imperative (William Allan)....Pages 145-183 Managing Environmental Capital: The Case of Climate Change (William Allan)....Pages 185-209 Front Matter ....Pages 211-211 Institutions and Behaviour: New Rules of the Game (William Allan)....Pages 213-243 Ideas, Power and Social Progress (William Allan)....Pages 245-262 Back Matter ....Pages 263-293