Some Philosophical Help With “Neoliberalism”

This chapter is unusually long and might be best thought of as being made of three subchapters, all of which help to explain the ideas that animate this book. In considering how you might use this chapter, it might be worth thinking about how the sections of this chapter answer different sorts of questions, and they may be of greater or lesser use depending on what you’re hoping to get out of the cases. The first section of this chapter (“What is Neoliberalism”) explains what the authors and editors mean by “neoliberalism,” and develops the specific idea of “market imperialism” to explain what exasperates the authors and editors. The second section (“The problematic theoretical underpinning of market imperialism”) presents and critiques the arguments that undergird advocates of market imperialism. The final section (“Conclusion: network of thinkers and art of government”) explains how neoliberalism and market imperialism can operate even though individual people may not explicitly see themselves as advocates of neoliberalism and market imperialism. This last section also summaries some common attributes of market imperialism and neoliberal thinking.