ABSTRACT
When discussing globalisation and social change many people identify the root problem as being the nature and impact of neo-liberalism. This is a contested position, and this chapter attempts to provide a balanced overview of the subject. In particular we look at how:
Neo-liberalism is a contested term
We need to be clear what we mean by neo-liberalism
For local communities there are both benefits and losses from the effects of neo-liberalism
Once defined, analysing neo-liberalism can be useful to understand local communities
Neo-liberalism cannot be the only framework of analysis for communities – the world is more complex than this
It is important to understand the context of the communities within which we work. Understanding the complexity of neo-liberalism is an important part of this perspective.
