Tehila Sasson, "The Solidarity Economy: Nonprofits and the Making of Neoliberalism after Empire" (Princeton UP, 2024)

Aug 14, 2024

Tehila Sasson, a scholar studying nonprofits and neoliberalism, dives into the historical role of NGOs in shaping post-imperial economies. She discusses how British nonprofits attempted to establish ethical capitalism after 1947, navigating the complex dynamics of colonial legacies. Sasson highlights the shift from national ownership to decentralized economic models inspired by Gandhian principles. She also sheds light on the evolution of microfinance and the Jubilee 2000 campaign for debt forgiveness, illustrating the intricate relationship between ethics and market dynamics.

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Intro

00:00 • 2min

Navigating Ethical Capitalism in Post-War Britain

01:35 • 17min

From Colonialism to Solidarity Economy

18:33 • 6min

Navigating the Solidarity Economy

24:19 • 16min

The Intersection of Debt, Christian Ethics, and Solidarity in Nonprofit Movements

40:45 • 5min

Microfinance: Historical Roots and Global Impact

45:22 • 9min

After India gained independence in 1947, Britain reinvented its role in the global economy through nongovernmental aid organisations. Utilising existing imperial networks and colonial bureaucracy, the nonprofit sector sought an ethical capitalism, one that would equalise relationships between British consumers and Third World producers as the age of empire was ending. The Solidarity Economy: Nonprofits and the Making of Neoliberalism after Empire (Princeton University Press, 2024) by Dr. Tehila Sasson examines the role of nonstate actors in the major transformations of the world economy in the postwar era, showing how British NGOs charted a path to neoliberalism in their pursuit of ethical markets.

Between the 1950s and 1990s, nonprofits sought to establish an alternative to Keynesianism through their welfare and development programs. Encouraging the fair trade of commodities and goods through microfinance, consumer boycotts, and corporate social responsibility, these programs emphasised decentralisation, privatisation, and entrepreneurship. Tehila Sasson tells the stories of the activists, economists, politicians, and businessmen who reimagined the marketplace as a workshop for global reform. She reveals how their ideas, though commonly associated with conservative neoliberal policies, were part of a nonprofit-driven endeavour by the liberal left to envision markets as autonomous and humanising spaces, facilitating ethical relationships beyond the impersonal realm of the state.

Drawing on dozens of newly available repositories from nongovernmental, international, national, and business archives, The Solidarity Economy reconstructs the political economy of these markets—from handicrafts and sugar to tea and coffee—shedding critical light on the post imperial origins of neoliberalism.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars.

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