Cemal Burak Tansel

723876 book-review2017

PSW0010.1177/1478929917723876Political Studies ReviewBook Review – Other Areas

Book Review – Other Areas

Book Review

States of Discipline: Authoritarian Neoliberalism and the Contested Reproduction of Capitalist Order by Cemal Burak Tansel (ed.). London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. 272pp., £27.95 (p/b), ISBN 9781783486199

The financial crisis of 2007–2008 severely damaged the fundamental structures of global economy. However, neoliberalism remained as the dominant mode of capitalist accumulation. States of Discipline exclusively focusses on the features of neoliberalism that make it such a resilient doctrine and the ways that neoliberalism reproduces itself against the popular opposition. The book convincingly argues that ‘contemporary neoliberalism reinforces and increasingly relies upon (1) coercive state practices that discipline, marginalize and criminalize oppositional social forces and (2) the judicial and administrative state apparatuses which limit the avenues in which neoliberal policies can be challenged’ (p. 2). In this manner, authoritarian neoliberalism is a term that is analytically utilized to indicate the operativeness of neoliberal policies and coercive mechanisms. The book focusses on authoritarian neoliberalism and researches the utility of it. This edited volume consists of one introductory chapter and 12 case study chapters. Topics in the book extend from labour market to security, from gender and body politics to urban transformation, from migration to the European Union (EU) legislation. There are also chapters regarding case studies in various countries such as Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Cambodia and China. As it explicitly points out, this book is not only aimed at intellectual circles but also defined by a political impetus (p. 3).

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As it is argued by the editor Cemal Burak Tansel in the introductory chapter, the Turkish case ‘represents the archetypal case of authoritarian neoliberalism’ (p. 16). Annalena Di Giovanni analyses the urban transformation in Turkey, particularly in Istanbul, under authoritarian neoliberalism in the sixth chapter. She reveals that the public is excluded from the decision-making process of both the material and cultural dimensions of urban transformation under authoritarian neoliberalism and she provides evidences from the Turkish case. In the 10th chapter, Barış Alp Özden, İsmet Akça and Ahmet Bekmen examine Turkey’s shift to authoritarian neoliberalism under the Justice and Development Party rule and they argue that the coexistence of neoliberalism and authoritarianism in Turkey is both a response to and a factor in deepening social and political crises. Similar to the rest of 11 chapters, these two chapters provide plausible arguments and satisfactory evidences for their assertions. All in all, this well-written and well-edited book skilfully offers an alternative conceptual tool to the post-crisis politics and plausibly argues that neoliberalism’s resistance to the oppositional social movements comes from its ability to reinforce coercive state apparatuses. The editor and contributors of States of Discipline undoubtedly succeed their goal and with their initial multidisciplinary contribution, authoritarian neoliberalism will certainly occupy a major space in social sciences. Gorkem Altinors (Bilecik Seyh Edebali University) © The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1478929917723876 journals.sagepub.com/home/psrev