LIST OF PANELS

Background and Scientific/Policy Relevance

Neoliberalism is a “theory of political-economic practice based on the idea that human well-being can be advanced by liberal individual entrepreneurial freedoms and skills within an institutional framework characterized by strong private property rights, free markets and free trade” (Harvey, 2005, p. 2). “It has permeated into our ways of life and our common-sense thought about ourselves and the world” (Harvey, 2005, p. 3) According to Mudge (2008), neoliberalism is an “oft-invoked and ill-defined concept in the social sciences” (p. 703). Ward and England (2007) argue that research should further nuance the neoliberalization process in different contexts and fields (England & Ward, 2016, p. 21). Defining neoliberalism and its impact on health policy making is critical. 

In health policies, neoliberalism has merged with behavioural and biomedical notions of health based on personal responsibility (Crawford, 1980) and market logic in provisions of health care (Evans et al., 2017). We see the “emergence of a shadow paradigm which might be termed a ‘responsibilization’ paradigm…whereby the welfare state is being reshaped less around collective redistribution and more around individualized citizens seemingly empowered to take charge of their own affairs” (Orsini 2007, p. 349).

In health policy making, neoliberalization has taken the form of privatization, restructuring, contracting out, and offloading to the home, community and non-profit sectors. Scholars have argued that neoliberalism has led to a widening of inequality and contributed to inequity in health (e.g., Coburn, 2010).

Neoliberalism is however not a taken-for-granted in health policy making but rather conceptualized as contested terrain. There are notable critiques of neoliberalization in the social sciences from post structural theorists such as Wendy Brown (Brown, 2016; 2017); Orsini and Smith 2007) who criticizes the neoliberal project for its focus on “the human subject as a speck of capital”. We also see policy critiques arising from critical policy studies (Fischer, Torgerson, Durnova, and Orsini, 2017) and feminist political economy (Folbre 2001; Bezanson and Luxton; Bhattacharya 2017). These critiques lay integral groundwork in formulating alternatives to neoliberalization in health policy.

General Objectives and Research Questions 

The aim of this panel is to provide nuanced accounts and comparisons of neoliberalism in health and social services in multiple contexts both globally and locally. We also seek to locate everyday sites of resistance and to imagine alternatives (Sparke, 2016) to neoliberalization in health policy. 

References

Bhattacharya, Tithi (ed). (2017) Social Reproduction Theory: Remapping Class, Recentering Oppression.Pluto Press. London, U.K.

Brown, Wendy. (2016). Neoliberalism, Human Capital and Austerity Politics. Constellations. 23 (1):1-14.

Brown, Wendy. (2019). In the ruins of neoliberalism: The rise anti-democratic politics in the West. Columbia University Press. New York, NY.  

Coburn, David. (2010). Health and Health Care: A Political Economy Perspective. In T. Bryant, D. Raphael, M, Rioux (eds), Staying Alive: Critical Perspectives on Health, Illness, and Health Care, 65-91. Toronto: CSPI

Crawford, Robert. (1980). Healthism and the medicalization of everyday life. International Journal of Health Services : planning, administration, evaluation, 10(3), 365–388. 

Evans, Brian, T. Richmond., & J. Shields. (2017). Structuring neoliberal governance: The nonprofit sector, emerging new modes of control and the marketisation of service delivery. Policy & Society, 24(1), 73-97. doi:10.1016/S1449-4035(05)70050-3

Folbre, Nancy. (2001). The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values. The New Press. New York, NY. 

Fischer, Frank, Douglas Torgerson, Anna Durnova and Michael Orsini  (ed). (2017) Handbook of Critical Policy Studies. Edward Elgar Publishing. Cheltenham, U.K. 

Harvey, David. (2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University Press

Mudge, S. L. (2008). What is neoliberalism? Socio-Economic Review, 6, 703-731Mudge, S. L. (2008). What is neoliberalism? Socio-Economic Review, 6, 703-731.

Orsini, Michael (2007) “Discourses in Distress: From 'Health Promotion’ to ‘Population Health’ to ‘Are you responsible for your own health?” Chapter 16 in Critical Policy Studies ed. by Michael Orsini and Miriam Smith. (pp.347-363). UBC Press. Vancouver, B.C. 

Orsini, Michael and Miriam Smith. (2007).(ed) Critical Policy Studies. UBC Press. Vancouver, B.C. 

Rose, Nicholas. (1996). Governing “advanced” liberal democracies. In A. Barry, T. Osborne, & N. Rose (Eds.), Foucault and political reason, 37-64. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Sparke, M. (2016). Health and the embodiment of neoliberalism. In S. Springer, K. Birch, J. MacLeavy. (Eds). The Handbook of Neoliberalism (pp. 237-251). Routledge

Ward, K. & England, K. (2007). Introduction: reading neoliberalization. In K. England & K. Ward. Neoliberalization: States, Networks, Peoples. (pp. 1-22). Blackwell.

We welcome papers that explore and document the nuanced ways in which neoliberalism manifests in health and social services in multiple contexts and how service providers counter dominant neoliberal policy hegemony. Comparative analyses are welcomed in both local and global contexts and jurisdictions. Submissions can address questions such as the following: 

1. How has neoliberalism (neoliberalization) shaped contemporary health policy making and what are the primary discursive/ideological/socio-political markers of neoliberal health public policy?
2. What forms does neoliberal health care restructuring take across different health systems and/or jurisdictions globally? 
3. How does neoliberalism shape grassroots social movements in health care?
4. What are the connections between privatization of healthcare and neoliberalization?