Foucault’s lectures were not a neo-Marxist critique of neoliberalism

Evidence

And while I consider overstated the claim that Foucault’s interest in neoliberalism was driven by his deep attraction to it, I also reject the common perception that Foucault is offering a neo-Marxist critique of neoliberal rationality in these lectures, even if some of us draw on his work for such purposes. — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 94

Categorization

• XREF: Corrects a common misreading — important for readers coming to Foucault’s Birth of Biopolitics expecting either partisan allegiance or Marxist critique. — connects to: Foucault frames neoliberalism as a remaking of liberal governmentality rather than an economic break — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s…, 87; Foucault saw early neoliberalism as amoral and tolerant, not punitive — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 16; Foucault’s core break with Marx is epistemic containment, not method. — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures, 655