Economic individualism

In this video you will learn how countries moved away from political analysis based upon class towards that based upon economic individualism. What were the factors that lead to a focus upon the individual, and individual consumption, and what were the effects of this transition?

You will also learn what Herbert Marcuse meant when he talked of the ‘one dimensional man’, and why he was so cynical of the movement towards an individualistic culture.

The contrast between these two models will set the scene for a focus upon identity politics as an expression of economic individualism in the next activity.

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Davies, W. (2014) The Limits of Neoliberalism: Authority, Sovereignty and the Logic of Competition. London: SAGE Publications Ltd and Theory, Culture & Society.

Marcuse, H. (2012 [1964]) One-Dimensional Man. Beacon Press, Boston.