This Handbook provides an overview of established and cutting-edge contributions to political economic thought. Chapters by leading and emerging scholars showcase the diverse approaches and productive debates among researchers. Separate sections of the book deal with political economy as an area of knowledge, its principal theoretical traditions, the dynamics and socio-ecological foundations of economic systems, and political economy's interdisciplinary connections. Thirty-two chapters cover the full spectrum of contemporary political economy, including classical, Marxist, post-Keynesian, institutional, evolutionary, and feminist approaches, recent studies of capital as power, modern money theory, behavioural economics, social structures of accumulation, and race, gender and class. The volume concludes by reflecting on how these theories of political economy can contribute to making a better world. Pluralist and interdisciplinary in its approach, this Handbook is a key resource for students and teachers of political economy and heterodox economics, as well as for other social scientists wanting to understand political economic processes.

In this timely book, leading scholars of neoliberalism, together with emerging researchers from a range of intellectual traditions, reflect upon the nature of neoliberalism in light of the recent and ongoing global financial crisis. What emerges is an enlightening picture of the diversity of neoliberalism. The complex relationships between theory and practice are highlighted as the contributors recognize the need to move beyond the commonplace notion that neoliberalism is simply a system of free markets. Topical chapters examine the implications of the current crisis for neoliberalism, the likelihood of alternatives and how these might arise. Presenting a range of different theoretical approaches to understanding neoliberalism, this book will appeal to academics in the fields of political economy, political science, public policy, human geography, international studies, sociology and regulation studies. Graduate and senior undergraduate students in these fields will also find much to interest them. Contributors: N. Brenner, D. Cahill, L. Chester, M. Dean, G. Dumenil, B. Dunn, L. Edwards, J.E. King, M. Konings, D. Levy, J. Mikler, J. Paton, J. Peck, B. Spies-Butcher, F. Stilwell, N. Theodore, E. Thurbon

In this timely book, leading scholars of neoliberalism, together with emerging researchers from a range of intellectual traditions, reflect upon the nature of neoliberalism in light of the recent and ongoing global financial crisis. What emerges is an enlightening picture of the diversity of neoliberalism. The complex relationships between theory and practice are highlighted as the contributors recognize the need to move beyond the commonplace notion that neoliberalism is simply a system of free markets. Topical chapters examine the implications of the current crisis for neoliberalism, the likelihood of alternatives and how these might arise. Presenting a range of different theoretical approaches to understanding neoliberalism, this book will appeal to academics in the fields of political economy, political science, public policy, human geography, international studies, sociology and regulation studies. Graduate and senior undergraduate students in these fields will also find much to interest them. Contributors: N. Brenner, D. Cahill, L. Chester, M. Dean, G. Dumenil, B. Dunn, L. Edwards, J.E. King, M. Konings, D. Levy, J. Mikler, J. Paton, J. Peck, B. Spies-Butcher, F. Stilwell, N. Theodore, E. Thurbon

This 2007 book addresses important contemporary concerns about social justice. It presents detailed economic evidence, but analyses it in a manner that is engaging and readily accessible to the non-specialist reader. Who Gets What? examines what has been happening to incomes and wealth in Australia, what causes increased economic inequality, and the possibility of creating a more egalitarian society. It looks at who is rich, which social groups are still in poverty, and the policies that could redistribute income and wealth more effectively.

Political Economy Now! is the story of one of the most substantial and enduring conflicts in the history of Australian universities. Beginning in the late 1960s, it pitted those committed to the teaching of mainstream economics at the University of Sydney against the proponents of an alternative program in political economy. The dispute continued for decades until a Department of Political Economy was established in the Faculty of Arts in 2008.Why all the fuss over the teaching of economics? Why were the disagreements so deep and protracted? What has been at stake? Why did dissident staff and students commit so much time and energy to establishing and developing alternative courses and administrative arrangements?The dispute involved substantial differences of opinion about the nature of the curriculum, the style of teaching, and the structures of power and decision making. Although locally focused at the University of Sydney and at its most intense during the 1970s and 1980s, the dispute also has wider implications for how we understand the economic system and the role of economic policy. It reflects a broader tension in Australian society about what economic arrangements best serve social needs.The story of the struggle for alternative economics told from the political economists' perspective weaves together a general historical narrative with illustrations and interpretations of the causes and consequences of the conflict, and personal recollections of eleven former student activists, all now in significant professional positions.Political Economy Now! is a fascinating read for those concerned about how a discipline of great social and political significance is understood and taught to its would-be practitioners.