Neoliberalism has firmly taken hold in Wales. The 'clear red
water' is darkening. The wounds of poverty, inequality, and
disengagement, far from being healed, have worsened. Child
poverty has reached epidemic levels: the worst in the UK.
Educational attainment remains stubbornly low, particularly in
deprived communities. Prison population rates are among the
highest in Europe. Unemployment remains stubbornly high.
House prices are rising, with the private rented sector lining
the pockets of an ever-increasing number of private landlords.
Minority groups are consistently marginalised. All this is not
to mention the devastatingly disproportionate impact of the
coronavirus pandemic on working class communities.
The Welsh Way interrogates neoliberalism's grasp on Welsh life.
It challenges the lazy claims about the 'successes' of devolution,
fabricated by Welsh politicians and regurgitated within a tepid,
attenuated public sphere. These wide-ranging essays examine the
manifold ways in which neoliberalism now permeates all areas
of Welsh culture, politics and society. They also look to a wider
world, to the global trends and tendencies that have given shape
to Welsh life today. Together, they encourage us to imagine, and
demand, another Welsh future.