Neoliberalism’s blindness to politics deformed its institutional project

Evidence

One result of neoliberalism’s repetition of the Marxist failure to address political life and power is its deformation by what it ignores. Actually existing neoliberalism features states dominated by every kind of major economic interest and compelled to address a populace seething with rancor, rage, and resentment, not to mention material needs. Hayek imagined an order of strictly limited and separated governmental powers, while today, courts make law, legislatures make political policy, and the executive branch issues “orders” to work around both. — Wendy Brown, In the Ruins of Neoliberalism, 142

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Political power takes its shape from a distinct rationality, not from social structures — Wendy Brown, In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise…, 92; Neoliberalism’s political strength partly derives from being poorly understood — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 81; Neoliberalism reframed politics as an epistemological question of what can be known — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 54 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Bifurcating politics and economics undermines left critique of neoliberalism #corroborates (0.78) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 431
• Neoliberalism reframed politics as an epistemological question of what can be known #expands (0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 54
• Neoliberalism’s political strength partly derives from being poorly understood #expands (0.72) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 81