ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part explores 1989 did mark a new phase in the history of neoliberalism in the West. It shows that roll-in liberalism in the Netherlands was, somewhat ironically, defended as necessary for the preservation of the welfare state-a goal that could count on broad local support. The part focuses on a relatively unexplored phenomenon: urban twinning. Neoliberalism in the sense of the word emerged in the 1930s and 1940s; its most influential ideologues were associated with Chicago University and the anti-communist think tank, the Mont Pelerin Society. According to Milton Friedman and other proselytizers of neoliberalism such as Friedrich Hayek, free markets were essential to both the economic and political survival of Western democracies. The part argues that neoliberalism prevailed after 1989 because its main tenets could be translated into terms that were attractive to local elites.
