Neoliberalism’s Scorpion Tail

Abstract

Recent hard right political mobilizations in the West are commonly framed as rebellions against neoliberalism. This chapter questions that framing as it identifies neoliberal reason with the aim to replace robust democracy and social justice with authoritarian liberalism, traditional morality, and, of course, unregulated markets. Politically pacified citizens disciplined by patriarchal families and free markets, themselves secured by lean, strong states—this was the neoliberal dream. The dream twisted, of course, and the chapter concludes with reflections on the current conjuncture.