Neoliberalism

Assess Neoliberalism as the contemporary mode of liberal governmentality

Neoliberalism is a rather broad and general concept referring to an economic model that rose prominence in the 1980s. It is identified into three different manifestations such as an ideology, a mode of governance, and a policy package. Neoliberalism has been constructed upon the classical liberal ideal of the self-regulating market, whereas it is regarded not just as an economic or political theory but as an ideology and hegemonic project (Foucault et al, 2008). Over the decades, it has also been associated with such different political figures as Ronal Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Junichiro Koizumi, George W. Bush, and so on. They all share some

A famous neoliberal thinker Milton Friedman (1962) identifies that market promotes liberty and efficiency. He argues that only price system can achieve cooperation amongst a large number of strangers without coercion and can coordinate their activities in a way that maximises the general welfare. Additionally, neoliberal policies, in return for loans and credit, are necessary when financial crises occur and the world requires economic restructuring. The most powerful institutions of governance are, for example, national states, transnational institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, multinational corporations, and non-governmental organisations, and these institutions follow the neoliberal economic doctrine. Friedrich August von Hayek (1994) also argues that markets give expression to free personal choices. Foucault (2008) argues that neoliberalism better explains the current world than liberalism. It is because liberalism depends on socialisation of individuals, and it must force everyone to be free. Liberal freedom also requires disciplinary

It assumes that both agents and individuals behave in certain ways to meet the satisfaction of the society through education. Hobbes argues that human nature in neoliberal world is the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. Individuals are self-interested actors, who have responsibility of themselves and their own advantages as well as that of their family. They also act rationally because they evaluate their actions and opportunities based on cost benefit analysis, which neoliberal state relies on individual decision-making (Cooling and Jimenez, 2012). Neoliberalism also sees a society as the aggregate of individuals, rather than a community of mutually dependent individuals who share collective needs and have membership obligations of responsibility to one another. Neoliberal state enforces everyone to receive education in order to ensure behaviours of individuals and to encourage their competitiveness (Jessop, 2002). Furthermore, a neoliberal approach to social science is based on methodological individualism rather than on structures and collectivises, and its liberal credentials focus on individuals’ civil and political rights rather than on social and economic entitlements (Brown, 2015). Neoliberals also argue that human being is to maximise their utilities (preferences); for example, individuals’ behaviour is responsive to market signals. This logic is also applied to state policies