Neoliberalism

This course will examine the work of the twentieth-century thinkers often lumped together as “neoliberals,” as well as some of the scholarly literature around neoliberalism that has proliferated in recent decades. We do not begin from the assumption that neoliberalism has a single clear and coherent meaning. Instead, we will ask some of the following questions: Is there such a thing as neoliberalism at all? If so, how does its meaning differ from other terms of analysis such as “liberalism” or “capitalism”? Is neoliberalism best understood as an intellectual movement, or as a social formation whose key characteristics may not be captured in the works of its theorists? When did neoliberalism begin, and how might identify its end?