Inequality Marketization And The Majority Class

Download or read book Inequality, Marketization and the Majority Class written by S. Mau and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-04-29 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why were the European middle classes ready to acquiesce in neo-liberalism? This book argues that upward mobility, the growth of individual and family assets, the growing significance of private provision, and processes of individualization contributed to a major transformation of the middle classes, making them more prone to embrace inequality and market principles. It shows how the self-interest of large sections of the middle classes undermined social democracy and paved the way for neo-liberal reforms, making their socio-economic positioning ever more precarious and reducing their political power. Central to the debate is the question of how the middle classes can rebalance the relationship between the Market and state intervention, so as to establish a new social equilibrium.