Illusions of Progress: Business, Poverty, and Liberalism in the American Century

Neoliberalism is a shift towards market-oriented governance that began in the 1970s, but its roots can be traced to mid-twentieth-century liberalism. Brent Cebul's book "Illusions of Progress" chronicles the rise of "supply-side liberalism" in the late 1930s, which tied expansive aspirations for social and racial progress to economic development initiatives. By binding national visions of progress to the local interests of capital, liberals often entrenched the very inequalities of power and opportunity they imagined their programs solving.

Format: Hardback
Length: 480 pages
Publication date: 14 March 2023
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

The term "neoliberal" is used to describe an epochal shift towards market-oriented governance that began in the 1970s. However, the roots of many of neoliberalisms policy tools can be traced to the ideas and practices of mid-twentieth-century liberalism. In his book "Illusions of Progress," Brent Cebul chronicles the rise of "supply-side liberalism," a powerful and enduring orientation towards politics, the economy, race, and poverty that united local chambers of commerce, liberal policymakers, and economists, and urban and rural economic planners.

Beginning in the late 1930s, New Dealers tied expansive aspirations for social and, later, racial progress to a variety of economic development initiatives. In communities across the country, otherwise conservative business elites administered liberal public works, urban redevelopment, and housing programs. However, by binding national visions of progress to the local interests of capital, liberals often entrenched the very inequalities of power and opportunity they imagined their programs solving.

When President Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty, which prioritized direct partnerships with poor and racially marginalized citizens, businesspeople, Republicans, and soon, a rising generation of New Democrats sought to rein in its seeming excesses by reinventing and redeploying many of the policy tools and commitments pioneered on liberalisms supply side: public-private partnerships, market-oriented solutions, fiscal "realism," and, above all, subsidies for business-led growth now promised to blunt, and perhaps ultimately replace, programs for poor and marginalized Americans.

In this wide-ranging book, Brent Cebul illuminates the often-overlooked structures of governance, markets, and public debt through which Americas warring political factions have pursued their agendas. He demonstrates how the rise of supply-side liberalism has shaped American politics and society, and how it has contributed to the ongoing struggle for economic equality and social justice. "Illusions of Progress" is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the political and economic history of the United States, and it offers a critical analysis of the policies that have shaped our nation over the past century.

Dimension: 6 x 9 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781512823813