Urban crisis as conservative bonding capital

Abstract

The rise of neoliberalism in the United States is often linked to the economic crises of the 1970s. Within this narrative, stagflation, the OPEC oil embargo and the first major postwar threats to American economic hegemony challenged the ideational supremacy of Keynesianism. With major corporate organizational help, the ideas of once obscure economists were then elevated to policy by sympathetic politicians. This narrative is important but fails to capture other elements of support for neoliberal policies. In the United States, reaction to the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) and black political progress is an under-appreciated dimension of support for neoliberal ideas. This article explores the methods that conservatives have used to stitch together a coalition to capture resentment of the CRM, while appearing to be neutral on issues of race. These forms of conservative bonding capital have been crucial to the rise of neoliberal policies.