A hegemonia da indiferença e a gênese das políticas públicas: o liberalismo da City of London em Ken Follett

Abstract

This paper analyzed the transformations in the role of the State during the British Industrial Revolution (1792-1824), using the novel The armour of light by Ken Follett as its object of study. It proposed the original concept of Hegemony of Indifference to describe the process through which the financial elite of the City of London normalized state omission in the face of social crisis. Through a historical-political analysis, it examined how organic intellectuals such as Malthus and Ricardo converted social suffering into an economic fatality, supported by a geography of isolation rooted in Londinium’s institutional legacy.  The study showed that British state omission operated as an active strategy that prioritized fiscal-military efficiency over the well-being of the industrial periphery. Among the classic authors who informed this critical analysis are Ferguson, Gramsci, Hobsbawm, Lukács, Paine, Polanyi, and Thompson. The methodology used to develop this study was a narrative case study With the aim of conducting a critical analysis of Ken Follett’s novel to illustrate the theoretical concepts in a more immersive way.