Neoliberal marketisation of public services paradoxically produces a Stalinist proliferation of bureaucracy

Evidence

Market Stalinism was my term for the kind of bureaucracy which was typical of Blairism, but which, as The Wire demonstrates, was by no means confined to Blairism, or to Britain. The neoliberal claim was that marketisation obviates the need for the state and for bureaucracy. But the result of imposing “marketisation” on public services is always a crazed proliferation of bureaucracy, via target setting, league tables, performance reviews, etc. Just as under Stalinism, everything becomes geared towards the production of appearance. In these conditions, gaming the system is inevitable. How to get rid of Market Stalinism? We need to expose one of the biggest lies in neoliberalism: the idea that it is an anti-bureaucratic force. This will involve a struggle against managerialism, and towards a workplace based on the collective autonomy of workers. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2211

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Fisher’s coinage ‘Market Stalinism’ — the target-and-league-table bureaucracy that marketisation of public services actually generates.
• XREF: connects to: Late neoliberal capitalism resembles the Soviet system’s terminal phase but worse — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1957; Blairite pseudo-markets produced sprawling bureaucracy, contradicting accelerationist expectations — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 2063; Neoliberal marketisation imposed its own new bureaucracy — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1724 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism expanded bureaucracy rather than eliminating it #corroborates (0.95) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1581
• Bureaucracy has proliferated under neoliberal capitalism rather than vanishing with it #corroborates (0.93) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 43
• Neoliberal marketisation imposed its own new bureaucracy #expands (0.92) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1724
• Marketisation imposed on public services breeds bureaucracy geared to producing appearances #expands (0.90) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2211
• Marketizing inherently unquantifiable services requires added bureaucracy #expands (0.85) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 91
• Neoliberalism decentralized bureaucracy instead of abolishing it #qualifies (0.82) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 43
• New Labour revived Stalinist planning targets within education #exemplifies (0.80) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1658
• Market bureaucracy is more Kafkaesque than centralized totalitarian rule #corroborates (0.78) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 133
• Decentralised coordination need not mean Stalinist centralisation #complicates (0.75) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2231