Jennifer and Jacques discuss how the tide is turning against neoliberalism, the discredted doctrine that what is good for big business is good for everyone.

Part of the neo-liberal 'package' introduced in the early 1970s, was a conservative reaction against the cost of welfare and a push for greater accountability and evaluation of outcomes. While Jacques and Jennifer are in favour of evaluation in principle, too often it is based on countable indicators that allow companies and organisations to milk the public purse while providing no benefit to the people the programs are for. They argue for more meaningful and democratic forms of evaluation such as 'Participatory Action Research' and 'Developmental Evaluation'.

References

Michael Quinn Patton 2011, Developmental evaluation: Applying complexity concepts to enhance innovation and use. The Guilford Press,                New York.

Yoland Wadsworth 2011, Everyday evaluation on the run. Allen & Unwin, Sydney

Yoland Wadsworth 2011, Do it yourself social research. Allen & Unwin, Sydney