The Welsh Way : Essays on Neoliberalism and Devolution

Neoliberalism has firmly taken hold in Wales. The 'clear redwater' is darkening. The wounds of poverty, inequality, anddisengagement, far from being healed, have worsened.Childpoverty has reached epidemic levels: the worst in the UK. Educational attainment remains stubbornly low, particularly indeprived communities.Prison population rates are among thehighest in Europe.Unemployment remains stubbornly high. House prices are rising, with the private rented sector liningthe pockets of an ever-increasing number of private landlords. Minority groups are consistently marginalised. All this is notto mention the devastatingly disproportionate impact of thecoronavirus pandemic on working class communities. The Welsh Way interrogates neoliberalism's grasp on Welsh life. It challenges the lazy claims about the 'successes' of devolution,fabricated by Welsh politicians and regurgitated within a tepid,attenuated public sphere.These wide-ranging essays examine themanifold ways in which neoliberalism now permeates all areasof Welsh culture, politics and society.They also look to a widerworld, to the global trends and tendencies that have given shapeto Welsh life today.Together, they encourage us to imagine, anddemand, another Welsh future.