One thing that confuses me about neoliberalism in the 2010s sense is how different it is from neoliberalism in the 1980s sense. Globe Twitter is pro-market, but not really Reaganite or Thatcherite, definitely not when it comes to the conservative parts of those ideologies. I’ve had friends on the left who say they like the ideas of 21st century neoliberalism but think the name is too misleading or offputting – people read it as something quite different from “progressive cosmopolitanism plus free markets plus generous welfare state”. I’m hesitant to use it in front of left audiences for that reason.
So why ‘neoliberalism’ as a name, given the baggage it has?
Thanks for doing the podcast and everything else!
One thing that confuses me about neoliberalism in the 2010s sense is how different it is from neoliberalism in the 1980s sense. Globe Twitter is pro-market, but not really Reaganite or Thatcherite, definitely not when it comes to the conservative parts of those ideologies. I’ve had friends on the left who say they like the ideas of 21st century neoliberalism but think the name is too misleading or offputting – people read it as something quite different from “progressive cosmopolitanism plus free markets plus generous welfare state”. I’m hesitant to use it in front of left audiences for that reason.
So why ‘neoliberalism’ as a name, given the baggage it has?