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Compliance Capitalism: How Free Markets Have Led to Unfree, Overregulated Workers
In this book, Sidney Dekker sets out to identify the market mechanisms that explain how less government paradoxically leads to greater compliance burdens. This book gives shape and substance to a suspicion that has become widespread among workers in almost every industry: we have to follow more rules than ever--and still, things can go spectacularly wrong.
Much has been privatized and deregulated, giving us what is sometimes known as 'new public management, ' driven by neoliberal, market-favoring policies. But, paradoxically, we typically have more rules today, not fewer. It's not the government: it's us. This book is the first of a three-part series on the effects of 'neoliberalism, ' which promotes the role of the private sector in the economy. Compliance Capitalism examines what aspects of the compliance economy, what mechanisms of bureaucratization, are directly linked to us having given free markets a greater reign over our political economy. The book steps through them, picking up the evidence and levers for change along the way.
Dekker's work has always challenged readers to embrace more humane, empowering ways to think about work and its quality and safety. In Compliance Capitalism, Dekker extends his reach once again, writing for all managers, board members, organization leaders, consultants, practitioners, researchers, lecturers, students, and investigators curious to understand the genuine nature of organizational and safety performance.
Much has been privatized and deregulated, giving us what is sometimes known as 'new public management, ' driven by neoliberal, market-favoring policies. But, paradoxically, we typically have more rules today, not fewer. It's not the government: it's us. This book is the first of a three-part series on the effects of 'neoliberalism, ' which promotes the role of the private sector in the economy. Compliance Capitalism examines what aspects of the compliance economy, what mechanisms of bureaucratization, are directly linked to us having given free markets a greater reign over our political economy. The book steps through them, picking up the evidence and levers for change along the way.
Dekker's work has always challenged readers to embrace more humane, empowering ways to think about work and its quality and safety. In Compliance Capitalism, Dekker extends his reach once again, writing for all managers, board members, organization leaders, consultants, practitioners, researchers, lecturers, students, and investigators curious to understand the genuine nature of organizational and safety performance.
228 pages, ebook
Published August 1, 2021
3 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Sidney Dekker
46 books56 followersSidney W. A. Dekker (born 1969, "near Amsterdam"),is a Professor at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, where he founded the Safety Science Innovation Lab. He is also Honorary Professor of Psychology at the University of Queensland.
Previously, Dekker was Professor of human factors and system safety at Lund University in Sweden,where he founded the Leonardo da Vinci Laboratory for Complexity and Systems Thinking, and flew as First Officer on Boeing 737s for Sterling and later Cimber Airlines out of Copenhagen. Dekker is a high-profile scholar and is known for his work in the fields of human factors and safety.
Previously, Dekker was Professor of human factors and system safety at Lund University in Sweden,where he founded the Leonardo da Vinci Laboratory for Complexity and Systems Thinking, and flew as First Officer on Boeing 737s for Sterling and later Cimber Airlines out of Copenhagen. Dekker is a high-profile scholar and is known for his work in the fields of human factors and safety.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 5, 2021
The thoughts of a person only qualified in kissing his hierarchical superior's behind. So the markets are to comply to the whims of some people, let's randomly call those people The Government. The Government will than impose the burden of the control bureaucracy to the markets. And also to leeches like Dekker, who live a good life and also hire servants, called Assistants, from the same money. Later The Government will impose restrictions and go as far as shutting down markets and putting in jail people not included in The Government. And that, according to Dekker is a Free Market. Which leads to unfree, overregulated workers. And the solution? Well, Dekker has some nieces and nephews who have diplomas and want the same level of sinecure or better. Surely that would fix it all.
March 2, 2022
An important book about the spread of bureaucracy and how micromanagement of everything is being embedded into more and more aspects of business and society. The book gives an overview of economic theory and how the neoliberal values have been adopted across the world, and how deregulation has resulted in a growth of a compliance industry where mistrust and continuous monitoring against mindless checklists have disempowered the work force.
The book is not very long, and written in an engaging way with lots of stories highlighting the findings. The book does however not provide much of a solution to the problem and in that sense the book presents a depressing view of our world. I would hope that managers, leaders and people working in public administration would make the effort to read and understand the issues presented in this book, but find it highly unlikely that it would happen.
The book is not very long, and written in an engaging way with lots of stories highlighting the findings. The book does however not provide much of a solution to the problem and in that sense the book presents a depressing view of our world. I would hope that managers, leaders and people working in public administration would make the effort to read and understand the issues presented in this book, but find it highly unlikely that it would happen.
September 1, 2021
Less government regulations, less bureaucracy? Wrong! In this book, experienced safety science professor and author Sidney Dekker points out that deregulation may lead and often leads to extra bureaucracy, not vice versa.
The book, which starts the Routledge new book series on the Business, Management and Safety Effects of Neoliberalism, is filled with enlightening – and sometimes even hilarious – examples how deregulation may lead to ever-increasing bureaucracy and ever-expanding rulebooks. Why? Because making rules, audits and such things can also be a business (or industry).
As in his previous books, Dekker also takes space to shoot out common but false beliefs on safety. More rules and more control don’t mean more safety. What comes to free market, certain conditions have to be met in order to the market be really “free”: for instance, both the providers and consumers should have freedom of choice, which is not always the case. Surveillance, compliance and “auditism”, as Dekker coins it, flourish in these so-called “free” markets.
The book can be recommended to every safety professional, especially in the management – maybe together with Business Bullshit by André Spicer.
The book, which starts the Routledge new book series on the Business, Management and Safety Effects of Neoliberalism, is filled with enlightening – and sometimes even hilarious – examples how deregulation may lead to ever-increasing bureaucracy and ever-expanding rulebooks. Why? Because making rules, audits and such things can also be a business (or industry).
As in his previous books, Dekker also takes space to shoot out common but false beliefs on safety. More rules and more control don’t mean more safety. What comes to free market, certain conditions have to be met in order to the market be really “free”: for instance, both the providers and consumers should have freedom of choice, which is not always the case. Surveillance, compliance and “auditism”, as Dekker coins it, flourish in these so-called “free” markets.
The book can be recommended to every safety professional, especially in the management – maybe together with Business Bullshit by André Spicer.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews