Neoliberalism centrally requires a strong state, not state retreat
Evidence
Critical studies of neoliberalism had begun in the 1990s with the basic contention that the ideology meant the rollback of the state and the return of laissez-faire: a market fundamentalism, which purportedly dictated the liberation of markets and the transformation of every member of the world’s population into homo economicus. The scholarship evolved in the early 2000s to clarify that neoliberalism in both theory and practice actually meant a “strong state and free market” with a “roll-out” (Peck) of a new form of state to match its rollback. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 17
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the reading purpose: this overturns the crude ‘neoliberalism equals small government’ caricature the reader wants fractured. Also echoes Mirowski’s earlier chapters on the strong-state thesis. — connects to: Neoliberalism seeks to capture and reconstruct the strong state, not shrink it — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 117; Neoliberalism requires active state intervention to build competitive order, unlike laissez-faire. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 44; Flexibility, not a fixed policy list, defines the neoliberal program’s core — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 206 (+12 more)
Broader Connections
- Neoliberalism centered on a strong state, not the classical night-watchman state
#corroborates(1.00) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2145 - Neoliberalism seeks to strengthen rather than shrink the state
#corroborates(1.00) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2128 - Neoliberalism’s purported state-skepticism actually mandates a strong state
#corroborates(1.00) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 238 - Neoliberalism activates the state for the economy rather than withdrawing it.
#corroborates(0.95) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 106 - Neoliberalism seeks to transform and take over the state, not shrink it
#corroborates(0.92) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 117 - Neoliberal crisis response expanded rather than shrank state power
#corroborates(0.92) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 288 - Neoliberalism seeks a strong state that thwarts democracy, not a weak one
#expands(0.90) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 155 - Neoliberal rhetoric evokes free markets while quietly relying on a strong state
#expands(0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 26 - Neoliberalism intensifies rather than breaks with capitalist state form
#expands(0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1748 - Neoliberalism strengthens repressive state apparatuses rather than shrinking government
#expands(0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1748 - Neoliberalism subordinates the state to capital rather than freeing markets
#expands(0.80) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1720