ABSTRACT
Current world politics are marked by a manifest paradox: The triumphal pro-
cession of global neoliberalism seems to have come to an end in the new mil-
lennium. Utopian neoliberalism’s pain-free, non-cyclical ‘new economy’ has long
been transformed into real existing ‘slow growth’ Enron-style crony capitalism.
Neoliberalism has been under constant attacks from the left (new social move-
ments, communitarian social democracy) and right (cultural nationalists), from
activists and academics, unwilling to continuously affirm prevailing neoliberal
consent. At the same time, the post-9/11 Realpolitik of US security measures and
anti-terror unilateralism are widely regarded to contradict the ‘new con-
stitutionalism’ of the disciplinary neoliberal global order (Gill 1993: 11). But in
spite of these challenges, a wide variety of neoliberal policies and projects, at both
the national, regional and global levels, remain on the political agenda. Exam-
ples of the former include Agenda 2010 – a program designed to reform the
‘sclerotic’ German welfare state, courtesy of the country’s Social Democratic and
Green Party leadership. At the regional level, negotiations for a Free Trade Area
of the Americas (FTAA) continue, as the primary thrust in the effort to institu-
tionalize a free trade regime stretching from Alaska to Argentina. Europe’s
increasingly neoliberal Union does count 25 members since the first wave of
accession of mainly Eastern European countries of the former socialist camp.
Efforts continue to bring a wide range of services within the WTO framework
and attest to the ongoing persistence of core aspects of neoliberal hegemony at
the global level. Margaret Thatcher’s TINA (There Is No Alternative) thus has
not lost much influence in economic and social policy making even in countries
openly rebelling against Neoliberalism such as Brazil.
