Countdown to Christmas
5 - neoliberal
- From the climate crisis to economic inequality or even housing prices, there is always that one thing to blame: neoliberalism. It seems fair to say that neoliberalism has become society’s favorite bogey-man for everything that goes wrong in our world.
But what is “neoliberalism”? Well, here things get messy. Because while everybody is pretty sure that neoliberalism must be pretty bad, nobody seems to really be able to define it. In fact, the political scientists Taylor C. Boas & Jordan Gans-Morse did an extensive content analysis of the use of the term “neoliberalism” and could not detect any coherent definition…expect that it was used as a negative slogan by opponents of liberalism. Go figure!
- Traditionally, “neoliberalism” is associated with various (often rival) liberal traditions, such as Ordoliberalism, the Austrian School of Economics, or Milton Friedman & the Chicago School—and their influence on policy-makers, such as Margaret Thatcher or Ronald Reagan.
- In recent years, the Neoliberal Project (@ne0liberal) and the Adam Smith Institute tried to reclaim the term “neoliberalism” from its illiberal opponents and turn its negative connotation into a positive one.
Gift Idea
When you think of “neoliberalism”, you might think of ill-fitting suits and ties. And while this might be true for the German ordoliberals, that story is more outdated than the concepts of Marxism. Neoliberals have stepped up their game and are now reaching for cultural hegemony Gramsci-style with memes, twitter threads, and proper Guerilla marketing.
With this inexpensive (hence: consumer surplus!) sticker pack, you can be part of this revolution. And I promise you, nothing will be more satisfying than slapping one of those “neoliberal” stickers on the new MacBooks of your siblings or on the book cover of the latest Graeber/Piketty/Klein purchase of your hippie parents. They are extra sticky for a reason!
