LaborTalks: Democracy in Chains

The roots of neoliberalism are both political and intellectual. The post-World War II right-wing reaction to the New Deal and various emancipatory social movements, such as the Civil Rights movement, sought to not only elect conservative politicians and enact conservative policies, but also change the very rules of democratic governance—as historian Nancy MacLean writes in her highly lauded book Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America, “to reduce the authority and reach of the government or to diminish the power and standing of those calling on government to protect their rights or to provide for them in one way or another.” In this they drew on the interesting marriage of the developing branch of Virgina School “public choice” economics and segregationist and libertarian movements on the ground in the American south.

In #LaborTalks – “Democracy in Chains”: a Conversation with Nancy MacLean, MacLean will join BISR executive director Ajay Singh Chaudhary for a far-ranging discussion on the origins of neoliberalism, the rise of the radical right, its networks and tactics, anti-majoritarianism, the state of the left, and prospects for democracy. What explains the American right wing’s extraordinary success? Why is it hostile to democracy? What’s the role of the intellectual? By what means can left activists, scholars and unionists combat the right, and restore and improve public access to and influence over government

This event is co-presented by The Workmen’s Circle, The Sidney Hillman Foundation, and The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. A reception will follow the talk.

#LaborTalks – “Democracy in Chains”: a Conversation with Nancy MacLean is the fourth in our ongoing #LaborTalks series.