But, What Is Neoliberalism?
Neoliberalism is often hard to define, and some even deny it exists. But now the doctrine may be coming to an end, it’s vital we understand what exactly neoliberalism is.
Neoliberalism is a word that lingers in the background of all economic discussion. It is a word that pierces the zeitgeist like no other, a word rivalled only by postmodernism in its simultaneous vastness and vapidity. A word, in short, we have all seen but never gazed upon, as if observing a shadow.
One might be forgiven for thinking this is all quite dramatic language to describe what is at its core an economic school of thought. To an extent this is true, in both senses: neoliberalism is a school of thought, and this is dramatic language. But neoliberalism has become so much more, especially following the financial crisis and the rise of populism. Neoliberalism now exists, in an appropriate tentacular style, within many domains, penetrating many minds and embodying many ideas.
The effect this slippery ubiquity has is to disguise neoliberalism, so much so that it vanishes. The philosopher Mark Fisher had a phrase for this phenomenon: capitalist realism. Capitalist realism describes the belief that there is no alternative to capitalism. Neoliberalism is the parent…
