The rhetoric of neoliberalism in the politics of crisis

Abstract

This is the first article to compare directly Margaret Thatcher's and David Cameron's rhetoric of neoliberalism in the context of global economic crises. By doing so, it highlights similar rhetorical arguments used to justify the liberalisation of the British economy, each striving to emphasise the ‘common sense’ nature of neoliberalism by comparing it to household economies and a broader sense of economic simplicity, and each is presented as the sole solution to economic crises. The structure of the analysis focuses on the modes of persuasion ethos, pathos and logos, whilst acknowledging the importance of the political and ideological context in each period. The article concludes that, although similarities exist in their rhetorical strategies, differing political circumstances shaped the particular features of Thatcher's and Cameron's discourses.