Description
Reconstructing the economy,
state and public services
By Dexter Whitfield
In Place of Austerity uncovers the realities of commissioning, localism, ‘big society’ empowerment fraud, and the systematic undermining of public services and the welfare state. It perceptively exposes the scale of disempowerment, dispossession and disinvestment, and analyses the dominant rationale, which continues to underpin the financialisation and personalisation of public services, accelerating marketisation and privatisation on an unprecedented scale.
This is a vitally important book for trade unions as well as for civil and community organisations. It provides a critical understanding of the issues and will aid their intervention in transformation and procurement of public services by forging strong alliances, taking industrial and community action, and advancing alternative policies.
In Place of Austerity sets out a framework for policies that reconstruct the economy, invest in local economies, create jobs and rebuild public infrastructure. In doing so, it charts a new role for the state and offers a radical new public service management strategy. It is an equally important resource for all public sector employees. Incisive, timely and detailed, it is original in its research and analysis.
A paper by Dexter:
A paper written for Studies in Social Services, Li Bing, Vice Professor, Department of Sociology, Beijing Administrative College, China. Social services are at the forefront of the continued neoliberal transformation of public services and the welfare state in the UK. The paper applies the In Place of Austerity framework to examine the changes in social services. Paper in English and Chinese.
Reviews:
Bryan Evans in Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation Volume 7, Number 1, Summer 2013
Colin Burgess in Campaign for Labour Party Democracy
Dave Putson, TUSC (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition)
An article by New Left Project on G4S makes positive reference to In Place of Austerity, August 2012
William Podmore – Amazon
Andy Morton for Chartist, March/April 2012
Clive Singer for Open Democracy, Jan 2012
Nick Grant for Socialist Review, Jan 2012
A short review from IIndependent Action
