Is There a Systemic Retrenchment in the Private Sector?

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I looked at this through the lens of Paul Pearson's concept of systemic retrenchment right. He was really interested in why Thatcher and Reagan were not actually able to kind of fulfill their ambition of completely rolling back the state with direct cuts. So he suggested that systemic retrenchments are often more critical for how privatization actually happens. Most critically is not through these kind of direct cuts to public services, but often through these invisible measures that are obfuscated by politicians. I think towards the end of the paper I talked about then how this kind of sector of digital technology must also be recognized as a powerful actor in shaping this obfuscation of the effects of its use within the government.

Paris Marx is joined by Rosie Collington to discuss the consequences of outsourcing tech to the private sector, how it causes governments to lose important capacities to serve the public, and how the push for open government data empowered large tech firms.

Rosie Collington is a PhD candidate at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London. She’s also the co-author of The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies with Mariana Mazzucato. You can follow Rosie on Twitter at @RosieCollingto.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

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