Brexit and the Politics of UK Growth Models

TY - JOUR

T1 - Brexit and the Politics of UK Growth Models

AU - Rosamond, Ben

PY - 2019/5/4

Y1 - 2019/5/4

N2 - Brexit has reopened and repoliticised the debate about future growth models for the UK economy. This contribution argues that this debate is built around historically specific path dependencies that reflect the particular character of public debate about British political economy, while also suggesting that the debate around Brexit takes place at a very distinctive moment in the history of democratic capitalism in Europe. This combination gives the renewed politicisation a specific and perhaps perverse character. The paper considers how we should approach debates about growth models, paying particular attention to the importance of the politics of support. It suggests that recent debate about growth models has been largely subsumed within the politics of Brexit, which has politicised that debate, albeit through the emergent political economy frames that Brexit has provoked. The paper explores the ways in which the demise of three key props of European democratic capitalism–a sustained period of economic growth, a governing philosophy that subordinated the market to wider social purposes and strong political parties–play out in the context of Brexit and the search for a new politics of support.

AB - Brexit has reopened and repoliticised the debate about future growth models for the UK economy. This contribution argues that this debate is built around historically specific path dependencies that reflect the particular character of public debate about British political economy, while also suggesting that the debate around Brexit takes place at a very distinctive moment in the history of democratic capitalism in Europe. This combination gives the renewed politicisation a specific and perhaps perverse character. The paper considers how we should approach debates about growth models, paying particular attention to the importance of the politics of support. It suggests that recent debate about growth models has been largely subsumed within the politics of Brexit, which has politicised that debate, albeit through the emergent political economy frames that Brexit has provoked. The paper explores the ways in which the demise of three key props of European democratic capitalism–a sustained period of economic growth, a governing philosophy that subordinated the market to wider social purposes and strong political parties–play out in the context of Brexit and the search for a new politics of support.

U2 - 10.1080/13563467.2018.1484721

DO - 10.1080/13563467.2018.1484721

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1356-3467

VL - 24

SP - 408

EP - 421

JO - New Political Economy

JF - New Political Economy

IS - 3

M1 - 8

ER -