Overview

The reasons for South Africa’s full and rapid post-apartheid embrace of neoliberal economic policy remain controversial. Drawing on the author’s own participation in policy debates, this volume establishes there were alternatives available that were either dismissed or not even considered. Explanations for policy failings have to be sought in determinants such as globalisation, financialisation, capital flight, corporate restructuring and Black Economic Empowerment. The text offers extensive surveys of relevant literature including the developmental state, industrial and social policy, privatisation, trade policy, the Harvard School, comparative experience and the deficiencies in the country’s National Development Plan and New Growth Path.

Full Product Details

9789004746565

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Ben Fine, Ph.D. (1974), London School of Economics, is Emeritus Professor of Economics at SOAS University of London and Visiting Professor at Wits School of Governance, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. His most recent books include Material Cultures of Financialisation, co-edited with Kate Bayliss and Mary Robertson (Routledge, 2018); Race, Class and the Post-Apartheid Democratic State, co-edited with John Reynolds and Robert van Niekerk (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2019); and A Guide to the Systems of Provision Approach: Who Gets What, How and Why, with Kate Bayliss (Palgrave, 2021). His Marx’s ‘Capital’ (Pluto, 2016) is now in its sixth edition (with co-author Alfredo Saad-Filho). He was founding Chair of the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy (iippe.org) until June 2023.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available