ABSTRACT
Neoliberalism is rooted in the liberal tradition of individualism and freedom, but it places an emphasis on economic freedom, property rights, procedural justice, and the rule of law. In general, neoliberalism is best understood as a right-wing turn of liberals in opposition to the left-wing turn of social liberals who embraced the expanding and substantive agenda of political and social rights, the broad vision of equality and social citizenship. Authoritarian varieties of neoliberalism subsequently played a critical, if ambiguous, role in the history of neoliberalism. Neoliberalism travelled across borders easily as a result of a transnational discussion among intellectuals of different backgrounds and experiences. Many observers regard neoliberalism as an Anglo-Saxon creation of the late 1970s and early 1980s, or point to the “Washington Consensus” of 1989. Despite the origins of neoliberalism being strongest in Europe, the important networks of neoliberal intellectuals across other world regions both deserve more recognition and need greater scrutiny.
