Neoliberal Ideology and the Myth of the Self-Made Entrepreneur

This ecological study examined the relationship between neoliberal capitalist ideology (hereafter, neoliberal ideology) and non-communicable diseases (NCD) mortality in 124 countries, focusing on the degree to which climate culpability and physical inactivity are implicated in explaining that relationship. The economic freedom of the world index of the Fraser Institute (representing neoliberal ideology), CO2 emissions (metric tons/capita) from the World Bank (representing climate culpability), and the World Health Organization's age-adjusted physical inactivity and NCD mortality data were used. Covariates included gross domestic product (GDP)/capita, the country-level prevalence of obesity (n = 123), tobacco smoking (n = 111), and alcohol consumption (n = 61). Neoliberal ideology was associated with NCD mortality after controlling for GDP/capita, physical inactivity, and obesity, and this association was most pronounced in less culpable countries. The association between neoliberal ideology and NCD mortality remained statistically significant even after further controlling for tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption. Neoliberal ideology was associated with NCD mortality, after controlling for GDP, climate culpability, and tobacco smoking, regardless of physical inactivity. When alcohol consumption was introduced, physical inactivity moderated the association between neoliberal ideology and NCD mortality. Neoliberal ideology was consistently associated with NCD mortality. Also, NCD mortality appears to be most severe in countries that are less culpable for global climate change. Our findings offer preliminary evidence-based support for a shift in thinking toward the fundamental determinants of health and calls for an upstream shift in climate change mitigation interventions to improve population health through the creation of equitable global political and economic systems.

The relationship between masculinity, neoliberalism, and capitalist economy is difficult to analyse. This is apparent when we consider recent studies of neoliberal capitalism, which are almost entirely books about men, and yet this feature consistently escapes critical attention. In contrast, this article brings this relation into focus, and suggests that the critique of hegemonic masculinities is an important feature of the critique of neoliberalism. The article first reviews existing literature on the intersection of masculinity and capitalism, which is increasingly being drawn towards the analysis of neoliberalism. It then briefly takes up Michel Foucault’s study of neoliberalism, especially his contention that classical liberalism’s concern with the nature of markets maintains an ambiguous persistence within the neoliberal project, in order to consider what it may have to offer to an analysis of masculinity and neoliberalism. Finally, I turn to one of the key thinkers in the intellectual development of neoliberalism – Ludwig von Mises – and provide a critical rereading of his 1944 book Bureaucracy. I argue that, beneath its veneer of economic rationality, the text mobilizes masculinity as a technology that is crucial to managing both the affective and economic insecurities generated by neoliberal conceptions of freedom in market-based societies.

adopts a regulation- and state-theoretical variegated capitalism approach to the genealogy and subsequent development of neoliberalism. It distinguishes four kinds of neoliberal project: post-socialist system transformation, principled neoliberal regime shifts, pragmatic neoliberal policy adjustment, and neoliberal structural adjustment regimes. The heartlands of neoliberalism are characterized by principled neoliberal regime shifts, typified by the USA and UK but with variations in Canada, Eire, Australia, New Zealand, and Iceland. I consider the periodization of neoliberal regime shifts in the USA and UK and comment on similarities and differences with other cases. I then consider the extent to which pragmatic neoliberal policy adjustments can cumulate, over time, through ratchet-like effects, to produce de facto rather than principled neoliberal regime shifts. Here I also consider two cases – the Federal Republic of Germany, in which neoliberal policy adjustments serve a neo-mercantilist economic strategy but have consolidated into a more neoliberal regime shift, and Sweden, where a glass half-full, glass half-empty ambivalence exists as a result of the steady cumulation of neoliberal policy adjustments but much of the Swedish social democratic model has been retained. Finally, I consider the implications of neoliberal regime shifts in the heartlands in terms of (1) core-periphery relations within the heartlands themselves, associated with intensified uneven development and (2) the repercussions of neoliberal regime shifts in the heartlands for the overall dynamic of a world market organized in the shadow of neoliberalism.

The influence of neoliberal ideology in the educational literature has widely been discussed recently. Yet relatively little critical attention has been paid to the ways these hegemonic agendas have shaped and influenced the development of ELT curriculum and published teaching materials. This theoretical paper reviews literature on how neoliberal ideology influences ELT curriculum, namely published teaching materials. Also, it argues that ELT curriculum contents are essentially political and ideologically constructed to fulfil the politico-economic interests of ELT international publishers, located in the centre (e.g., UK and US). These neoliberal ideological constructions are preparing our students to become neoliberal citizens, consumers, or customers of English language learning, who can become apt members of callous marketization. This theoretical paper recommends that TESOL professionals need to play their role by demystifying and resisting these ideologies by redesigning the ELT curricula, such as course books. In addition, scripted curriculum and one-size-fits-all policy reflected in global course books contents do not fulfil the needs of diverse learners in various EFL/ESL contexts. Therefore, TESOL professionals, in particular teachers and academics need to be aware of current and potential educational policies and advocacies driven by western neoliberal educational ideologies. In practice, ESL/EFL teachers, academics and curriculum developers are required to consider their contextual local realities, such as students' English language learning constraints and teaching perspectives from teachers stand points in designing the EFL/ ESL curriculum contents.

Since signing and implementing the North American Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the early 1990s, the United States has pursued other free trade agreements with nations in Latin America and Asia. The premise undergirding FTAs is that trade liberalization within the neo-liberal global economy produces economic growth and development among all parties, and reduces poverty in poor nations. We examine arguments of proponents of free trade and the neo-liberal economy— particularly those of Martin Wolf, author of Why Globalization Works— to test these claims. We explore alternatives that center on norms of ecological sustainability and social justice, holding these two as inseparable. The central moral question of how to achieve needed socioeconomic development in the Global South in ways that are both ecologically sustainable and socially just frames our analysis. We conclude by proposing five principles for an alternative, more sustainable and equitable economic paradigm.

This thesis has explored the development of policy in the higher education sector in Bangladesh since the 1990s. It sought to understand the processes that led to the policy formulation based on neoliberal ideas and traces why, how and by whom these policies were developed in the higher education sector in Bangladesh. In order to understand the formation processes the study also reviewed the history of previous policies, and the discussion contextualizes the present policy formation within a discussion of the earlier development of higher education in Bangladesh. The theoretical framework of this research was developed and informed by the concept of policy borrowing. The methodological approach in this thesis was predominantly that of a case study within a broadly qualitative framework where neoliberal higher education policy making of Bangladesh was selected as a case. The case study used two main methods for collecting data: firstly, from the key neoliberal policies since the 1990s and secondly from the key policy actors involved in the development of these neoliberal policies in higher education. The findings of this thesis suggested that the way in which the neoliberal ideas were shaped in the higher education policies in Bangladesh could be defined as a ‘Bangladeshi’ form of neoliberalism. Although the overall features of this ‘Bangladeshi’ form of neoliberal ideas still embraced the idea of ‘Americanisation’ or ‘Westernisation’, these neoliberal ideas were developed in slightly different ways by actors who considered the socio-economic and political context of Bangladesh. The findings also demonstrated that many concepts put forward by policy borrowing models were found exemplified in the Bangladeshi case study. For example, the construction of ‘policy problems’ involved a process of ‘externalisation’ to solve the policy problems in the higher education sector in Bangladesh, which ensured that neoliberal ideas as developed elsewhere were looked at. In particular, the analysis supported the arguments of several scholars in the policy borrowing models that neoliberal globalisation has become the key source of solutions to policy problems, and the spread of these ideas has worked as a catalyst to solve problems in different national spaces. In the policy formation processes, the references to ‘lessons learnt’ or references to the ‘best practices’ from other countries became the policy tools to justify the adoption of neoliberal ideas in the higher education policies at the state level in Bangladesh. By demonstrating these characteristics of the process, this thesis has contributed to knowledge both in ‘comparative policy studies’ and policy borrowing models. This thesis has argued that the ‘micro-politics’ of a context need to be studied to understand the reasons why neoliberal ideas were formulated in the developing countries like Bangladesh. The argument about the importance of studying the ‘micro-politics’ of policy development contributes to knowledge in ‘comparative policy studies’. In addition, this research has argued that the concept of ‘semi-peripheral references’ as externalisation has become one of the dominant higher education policy strategies in Bangladesh. In shifting away from references to the ‘best practices’ or ‘international standards’ to references to the practices in ‘semi-peripheral’ countries that have similar non Western socio-economic and political spaces to Bangladesh, policy actors have been able to justify the adoption of contested neoliberal ideas into the higher education policies of Bangladesh.

This article theorizes the historical non-relation between cultural studies and economic rights discourse, tracing it to ideal typical distinctions between economy and culture in early cultural studies; Karl Marx's influence on Left thought generally via his critique of bourgeois rights; and Foucauldian governmentalist treatments of rights as neoliberal technologies of control and treatments of economy as having no agency of its own but rather as an effect of governmentality. It then introduces a case-study conjunctural history of American economic rights as a history of present American citizenship and politics in order to demonstrate the historically contingent articulations of individual freedom, government, and economic relations, which are not easily explained by the Marxist or Foucauldian vocabularies. The conjunctural history provides cultural studies research with a new perspective for attention to radical democracy and critiques of neoliberal capitalist policies without surrendering the utility of rights to (neo)liberalism.

The purpose of this article is to understand the consequences of accelerated neoliberal urbanization in the city of Sao Paulo by analyzing the Augusta Park and it’s environs. The study is justified because this city has been pursuing neoliberal practices that generate social and urban fragmentation. The current neoliberal scenario transforms the urban space and restructures the city, it creates marginalized and segregated urban environments, and replaces public spaces with private amenities. The research question is the following: Does Augusta Park represent a kind of resistance to accelerated neoliberal urbanization in Sao Paulo? To support this research, we use a qualitative methodology in order to demonstrate the urban destruction that threatens this area, the object of this study. First, we contextualize the Augusta Park as a public space with twenty four thousand square metres, located on Augusta Street, in the downtown area of Sao Paulo, representing a significant green area, a scarce amenity in this region. Then we demonstrate that in recent years, due to the increasing valuation of real estate in the downtown area, the region has become a strong target for the property market who intend to suppress the Park to make way for modern and luxurious housing. This fact has generated a large mobilization of the park’s users, locals and others, who demand that this area be preserved and handed over to the population in the form of a public space in all of its integrity. The case remains a legal process in the courts due to the influence of real estate capital on the Government. The research aims to reveal the historical and urban importance of the Park for the region and the impact of the developers activities in the urban environment. Historically the above issues have been justified by man’s domination of his environment. So, it is inevitable to analyse the instruments for environmental protection, especially National Urban Development Policy in Brazil. In conclusion we believe that the urban landscape of the city of Sao Paulo is changing quickly and intensely, causing profound changes to the city’s structure. The accelerated neoliberal urbanization process contributes significantly to this scenario with the main actors being the property and financial markets. Despite neoliberal practices producing devastating effects on the local way of life, promoting the disintegration of history as well as the memory of the city and decaying urban spaces definitively, Augusta Park reveals itself as a potential resistance to this neoliberal influence.

By reviewing Fernando H. Cardoso's memoir, ”Dependency and Development in Latin America”, and the relevant discussion on his policies, this paper offers a critique to the general interpretation and understanding of his early scholarship and his neoliberal reform at Brazil within the academic sphere in Taiwan. In contrast with the critical attitude from Latin American scholars, Taiwanese intellectuals in general have responded quite positively to Cardoso's work, emphasizing his contribution to social justice, economic prosperity, and the integration of Brazil into the global economy. This paper argues that the recognition given to Cardoso in Taiwan is built on the lack of a strong, reflexive critique toward neoliberal globalization and limited understanding of the critiques from Latin America. Moreover, although Taiwan, like Brazil, is also facing neoliberal globalization, very few Taiwanese scholars examine Latin American perspectives on neoliberal reforms and recontextualize these neoliberal critiques to shed light on the processes of neoliberalization in Taiwan. In sum, in response to Taiwanese researchers' extant interpretation of Cardoso's early scholarship and political actions, this paper aims to posit an alternative understanding of his neoliberal reform, hoping to generate a dynamic discussion on neoliberalism in Taiwan.

Neoliberal economic theorists posit that the economic sphere is to be differentiated from the social world and governed by its own rationality that is distinct from religious, ethical, social, or political considerations. My article explores how the issuance of fatwas in the contemporary Muslim world discursively compete with neoliberal capitalist ideology by embedding religious ethics in economic discourse. First, I contextualize this analysis with a historical discussion on how the Muslim world was incorporated into the capitalist world-system, a process that peripheralized their established economic and cultural practices. Then, I examine the contemporary fatwas on commercial transactions that are issued by an international Muslim organization. My overall argument is that the Islamic moral economy proposes financial arrangements that represent alternatives to capitalist financial practices, which are the standard modes of operation in global financial institutions. Such practices pose a challenge to Muslim economic ethics and law, a challenge that Muslims are trying to negotiate using traditional legal practices such as the fatwa.

This paper explores the intersection of neoliberal ideologies and language policy in the context of Chinese language education in Oman's higher education system. Drawing on critical discourse analysis and theoretical frameworks of neoliberalism, the study investigates the introduction of Chinese language programmes within Omani universities, with a focus on Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). Through analysis of public documents, interviews and instructional materials, this paper examines how neoliberal free-market ideologies influence the implementation and perception of Chinese language education. Key research questions address the manifestation of neoliberal ideologies in programme policies, stakeholder perceptions and suggestions for pedagogical improvement. The findings reveal a complex interplay between geopolitical, economic and educational factors shaping language policy and its implications for Oman's higher education system.

This paper argues that a shared investment in racial hierarchy has historically formed a key point of convergence between neoliberal and far-right ideologies. To make this argument, the paper develops a close analysis of the career and works of Louis Rougier (1889–1982). Known principally as a prominent early free-market advocate who helped to organize the neoliberal movement in the interwar period, Rougier stands out from many other neoliberals by his lifelong connections to the French far right. The paper maps out these connections, focusing in particular on Rougier’s links, first, to neo-fascist circles during and after the Second World War and, second, to the Nouvelle Droite as it emerged in the late 1960s. It then reconstructs Rougier’s views on race, showing that he saw racial variables as a decisive factor in the historical ascendancy of Western civilization. Late in his life he took a keen interest in a body of racialist pseudo-science to support this view. The final section of the paper explores the ideological affinity between far-right and neoliberal ideology, arguing that Rougier’s signally racialised conception of Western civilization was so closely aligned with both worldviews it was able to serve as a conceptual bridge. The paper concludes that this ideological affinity positions the far right as a more or less organic ally to neoliberalism.

Enoch Powell was not only Britain’s best known racist, he was also its first neoliberal politician. By making this provocative claim, I wish to consider political and intellectual departure points that might provide a more adequate account of the contemporary relationship between racist populism and the neoliberal project. This relationship might be seen as paradoxical. However, I suggest that racist populism should be apprehended as, formatively, a neoliberal project. Towards this aim, I make a heuristic distinction between neoliberal politicians, neoliberal economists, and neoliberal ideologues. I argue that the political force required to instantiate and defend the neoliberal project – especially in times of crisis – requires us to engage with chronologies, issues and actors which we might not foreground so instinctively if we dwell only upon neoliberal economists and ideologues. Overall, I claim that taking Powellism as a departure point certainly renders the current crisis political, but not necessarily epistemological, i.e. a crisis of interpretation.

Peacebuilding as a theoretical and empirical notion has assumed growing prominence following the collapse of Cold War. The reason for the growing prominence of peacebuilding is related to the rise of the neoliberal interventionist ideology that dominated the post-Cold War world order. This chapter seeks to examine two strands of peacebuilding: popular progressive and neoliberal. Popular progressive peacebuilding is historical, contemporary, and futurist simultaneously. This trajectory, a synthetic constellation, represents a continuum that knots together past, present, and future. It represents a process of continuity, evolution, and metamorphosis in time and space. It also represents space where historical-legal, socio-economic, and politico-cultural idiosyncrasies and edifices play decisive roles. The neoliberal peacebuilding project, on the other hand, is rooted in neoliberal values and norms, which support an aggressive interventionist approach to peacebuilding. Peacebuilding not in tune with neoliberal ideology was perceived not only as untenable but also as a danger to world peace. This chapter seeks to examine the theoretical frame of peacebuilding. It focuses on two dimensions. The first is on short-term peacebuilding that follows a bloody war. Deriving from critical analysis, this chapter seeks to advance progressive peacebuilding as an alternative to neoliberal peace building in Africa.

Critical interrogation of social work texts reveals ideologies contributing to hegemonic ‘taken-for-granted’ knowledge that maintains oppressive power relations. In the South African context of ongoing inequality after the 1994 democratic transition, neo-liberal ideologies have structured and constrained social work knowledge and practice constitutive of social change. Similarly, conservative neo-liberal ideologies underpinning social work knowledge and discourse act performatively to shape practice and social realities. This article, based on a section of the author’s PhD study, examines one of the thematic ideological trends found in post-1994 social work texts on poverty and social development, which reflect neo-liberal, individualist ideologies of ‘blaming-the-poor’ and personal culpability for poverty. A selection of three texts is discussed, illustrating processes and modes of operation of these ideologies in the various approaches proposed.