Unit name | Greed is Good: Contemporary Enterprise Culture in Britain and America |
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Unit code | HISTM0070 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. Edwards |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None. |
Co-requisites |
None. |
School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Stuart Hall described contemporary society as having witnessed the ‘long march of the Neoliberal Revolution’. For historians, sociologists, political scientists and economists alike, tracing the rise of neoliberalism as an economic ideology and as a series of policies has been of the utmost importance. But what of the social and cultural manifestations of neoliberalism? This unit aims to provide students with an understanding of the emergence and development of a widespread ‘enterprise culture’ in Britain and America in the late-twentieth and early twenty-first century. It asks, how the meaning of enterprise has changed; how prevalent it has become in contemporary culture; and how it has affected society and the individual? In doing so, students will explore what it means to be an entrepreneur, not just at work but in our relationships, our private lives and our understanding of ourselves? Are we all neoliberal entrepreneurs now?
The political, cultural, and social, facets of contemporary enterprise culture are be investigated through various sources, including political rhetoric, the popular press, television, film, literature, fashion, education, and business and industry. Students will explore enterprise culture in its diverse manifestations, and consider how widespread the logic of free market competition has become in the world around us.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit students will:
1 X 2-hour interactive lecture per week
One 5,000 word essay (100%) – ILO’s 1-7
U. Bröckling, The Entrepreneurial Self: Fabricating a New Type of Subject (London, 2016).
T. Frank, One Market Under God: Extreme Capitalism, Market Populism , and the End of Economic Democracy (New York, 2000).
R. Keat and N. Abercrombie (eds), Enterprise Culture (London, 1991).
R. Martin, Financialization of Daily Life (Philadelphia, 2002).
J. McGuigan, Neoliberalism and Culture (London, 2016).
F. M. L. Thompson, Gentrification and the Enterprise Culture: Britain 1780 – 1980 (Oxford, 2001).