The fall of communist regimes and the end of the Cold War marked the start of a new, regressive phase of the modernization process. This book explains the genesis and the spread of this veritable new form of government termed oikocracy.
It is characterised by transnational clan networks being the dominant social structures and the primacy of (private) economic interests over (public) political interests. As such, it supersedes traditional forms of government. Having originated in the most highly industrialised countries, this Neoliberal Absolutism no longer requires sophisticated ideologies or institutional propaganda, rather relying on the dynamics of a globalised world that facilitate an easy mobilization of the masses, and thereby expanding to the rest of the world.
This book suggests that in response, we have to develop new principles of government antagonistic to the existing ones and avoid solutions proposed by an increasing number of Western leaders.
Fabio Armao (T.wai & University of Turin) is author of the book “The Age of Neoliberal Absolutism” (De Gruyter), available in open access.
