What do you think?
Rate this book
Late Soviet Britain
Why has the United Kingdom, historically one of the strongest democracies in the world, become so unstable? What changed? This book demonstrates that a major part of the answer lies in the transformation of its state. It shows how Britain championed radical economic liberalisation only to weaken and ultimately break its own governing institutions. The crisis of democracy in rich countries has brought forward many urgent analyses of neoliberal capitalism. This book explores for the first time how the 'governing science' in Leninist and neoliberal revolutions fails for many of the same reasons. These systems may have been utterly opposed in their political values, but Abby Innes argues that when we grasp the kinship in their closed-system forms of economic reasoning and their strategies for government, we may better understand the causes of state failure in what remains an inescapably open-system reality.
408 pages, Paperback
Published September 28, 2023
23 people are currently reading
454 people want to read
About the author
Abby Innes
2 books12 followersAbby Innes is an Assistant Professor of Political Economy in the European Institute, at the London School of Economics.
Before joining the European Institute in 1997 she was a Visiting Scholar at MIT and was a Jean Monet Fellow at the European University Institute, (2001-2). Before her PhD Abby worked as a political analyst in the Office of the Government, Czechoslovakia; as Assistant to the General Secretary of the Czechoslovak Foreign Ministry and as a researcher for the Policy Studies Institute.
A serious illness meant taking a break from LSE from 2005-2009. Since returning to research her interests turned towards exploring the ongoing patterns of party-state ties in Central Europe but also the affinities between Neoliberalism and Marxism-Leninism as materialist utopias. She joined the Editorial Board of East European Politics in 2011.
She was awarded a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship in 2017-2018 to study neoliberal reforms to the state with particular reference to the UK.
She has taught Varieties of Capitalism; the political economy of Europe, the comparative political economy of Central Europe, and a course on the political economy of post-communist transition and emerging markets. She was awarded an LSE Teaching Prize in 2002; the European Institute Departmental Teaching Prize 2011, 2013 and 2015. In the LSE Student Union Student-Led Teaching Excellence Awards she was a Nominee in 2014, a Commended Nominee in 2015 and a Highly Commended Nominee, 2016. She is currently the Teaching Chair of the European Institute
Research Interests
The political economy of Central Europe; models of development in emerging markets; the development of party state ties in Central Europe; comparative materialist utopias; the political economy of Marxism Leninism and Neoliberalism; varieties of capitalism; the political economy of supply-side reforms of the state in advanced capitalist systems.
Expertise Details
Czechoslovak Politics; Political Economy of Central Europe; Varieties of Capitalism; Supply-side reforms in advanced capitalist states; Political economy of Marxism Leninism and of Neoliberalism; Neoclassical Economics
Before joining the European Institute in 1997 she was a Visiting Scholar at MIT and was a Jean Monet Fellow at the European University Institute, (2001-2). Before her PhD Abby worked as a political analyst in the Office of the Government, Czechoslovakia; as Assistant to the General Secretary of the Czechoslovak Foreign Ministry and as a researcher for the Policy Studies Institute.
A serious illness meant taking a break from LSE from 2005-2009. Since returning to research her interests turned towards exploring the ongoing patterns of party-state ties in Central Europe but also the affinities between Neoliberalism and Marxism-Leninism as materialist utopias. She joined the Editorial Board of East European Politics in 2011.
She was awarded a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship in 2017-2018 to study neoliberal reforms to the state with particular reference to the UK.
She has taught Varieties of Capitalism; the political economy of Europe, the comparative political economy of Central Europe, and a course on the political economy of post-communist transition and emerging markets. She was awarded an LSE Teaching Prize in 2002; the European Institute Departmental Teaching Prize 2011, 2013 and 2015. In the LSE Student Union Student-Led Teaching Excellence Awards she was a Nominee in 2014, a Commended Nominee in 2015 and a Highly Commended Nominee, 2016. She is currently the Teaching Chair of the European Institute
Research Interests
The political economy of Central Europe; models of development in emerging markets; the development of party state ties in Central Europe; comparative materialist utopias; the political economy of Marxism Leninism and Neoliberalism; varieties of capitalism; the political economy of supply-side reforms of the state in advanced capitalist systems.
Expertise Details
Czechoslovak Politics; Political Economy of Central Europe; Varieties of Capitalism; Supply-side reforms in advanced capitalist states; Political economy of Marxism Leninism and of Neoliberalism; Neoclassical Economics
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 26, 2025
One of the best explanations of the failures of Thatcherite neoliberal political economy and its subsequent developments
February 25, 2025
A bizarre set of contentions, ones that you can expect from a disciple of the Fabian LSE.
It's quite astounding to blame neoliberalism, which has a different definition depending on who you ask & what ideological axe to grind they are dragging behind them, for an economy that collapsed under the dead hand of the state as opposed to de-regulated markets.
The contentions in this book are a wilful inversion of reality. The title of the book was great, because Britain is very red in its policies & the consequences are entirely predictable.
It's quite astounding to blame neoliberalism, which has a different definition depending on who you ask & what ideological axe to grind they are dragging behind them, for an economy that collapsed under the dead hand of the state as opposed to de-regulated markets.
The contentions in this book are a wilful inversion of reality. The title of the book was great, because Britain is very red in its policies & the consequences are entirely predictable.
August 29, 2024
Masterfully argued. Required reading for anyone wanting to understand the failings and dangers of neoliberalism
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews