![]() Like Keynesians, neoliberal thinkers supported state intervention, but with the purpose of preserving market competition, which was thought to index a healthy liberal democracy (Lemke 2001: 193). Unlike in classical liberalism, the market would be treated not as a natural and separate sphere but ‘as the principle, form, and model’ for the state (Foucault 2010: 117). Those committed to Hayek’s vision felt that to avoid repeating historical failures, a different relationship between state and market should be engineered. These approaches had gained momentum in response to the Great Depression and declining faith in classical liberalism, which relied on the assumption that the market was capable of regulating itself, a conceit troubled by economic crisis (Coleman 2013: 82). While there was disagreement amongst attendees about the precise form that this ‘new’ liberalism should take, most were critical of the rise of the welfare state and Keynesian economic doctrine, which encouraged state intervention and spending to boost economic growth (Slobodian 2018: 6). Its contemporary use was consolidated by the inaugural 1947 gathering of the Mont Pèlerin Society, organised by Friedrich Hayek, and attended by prominent economists and thinkers such as Milton Friedman, George Stigler, and Karl Popper (Harvey 2007, Coleman 2013, Mirowski & Plehwe 2015, Slobodian 2018). It concludes by setting out ongoing debates about the use of neoliberalism and related concepts proposed to think critically about contemporary capitalism.Īs an economic philosophical movement, neoliberalism refers to the form of liberalism resurgent after the Second World War. In order to demonstrate as much, this entry highlights insights about the effects of neoliberalism on the state and on labour. Third, it addresses how the intersections between these two approaches have been productive for anthropologists. Second, this entry presents work that frames neoliberalism less as a unified system and more as a flexible mode of governing, and the influence of the work of Michel Foucault on this body of literature. First, it examines contributions that have treated neoliberalism as a world system, and the influence of Marxist concepts on this approach. This entry starts by exploring the benefits and drawbacks of two different ways of theorising neoliberalism. They have at times used the word as a neutral description of an economic doctrine or set of related policies, and at others as a normative description of their negative effects. Anthropologists have critically engaged with neoliberalism. In practice, it is characterised by the retrenchment of the welfare state and an increased role of the state in preserving market competition. It refers to a form of capitalism ascendant since the 1970s but informed by post-war economic philosophical ideas. ![]() ![]() ‘Neoliberalism’ is a widely used term that travelled from economic philosophy into policymaking, and from policymaking into critical social scientific discourse in the late twentieth century.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |