ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 shows how neoliberalism emerged as an attempt to renew liberalism through a return (or a reduction) to classical political economy. Kept in the margins of the discipline and at bay from economic policy implementations for decades, the crisis of the Welfare state in the 1970s provided the context for a remarkable return to nineteenth-century free-market policies and the beginning of an era in which the institutionalisations of the Welfare state were dismantled and economic, financial, and media regulations were abolished, all in the name of progress and global economic integration. This chapter provides key material to clarify much of the haze, approximations, and opportunism that surround the concept of neoliberalism. Far from being a strictly economic doctrine, neoliberalism is first and foremost a political and cultural ideology that gives precedence to market efficiency over any other regulative process, especially that of the state. Neoliberalism is also a wide-ranging set of practices, such as governance and management, which are similarly defined and contextualised.
