Actually Existing Neoliberalism: Public-Private Partnerships in Public Service and Infrastructure Provision in Ireland

Abstract

Three decades of neoliberal policies of privatisation, marketisation and commercialisation in public services and infrastructure have had a profound influence on the role of government and the state in our economies and society. They have had a severe impact on public service users and on lower-income populations and workers in particular (Bourdieu, 1998; Brenner and Theodore, 2002; Harvey, 2005; Whitfield, 2006; Hearne, 2011). Understanding this changing geo-political economy of the state under neoliberalism is an essential task if we are to provide alternative, equality-based pathways for government and governance policy and practice. Indeed, developments in this area will have a significant influence on how Dublin and Ireland’s society and economy progresses (or not) over the coming decades. This chapter explores the particular geography of the implementation of neoliberalism in the transformation of the state in Ireland. It does this through an analysis of evidence gathered from research into public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the delivery in public services and infrastructure at central government and local-authority level (see Hearne, 2011).KeywordsPublic ServiceLocal AuthoritySocial HousingPublic Private PartnershipPublic LandThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.