Varieties of Neoliberalization: Freeing the Invisible Hand of Free Markets and Extending the Visible Hand of Market Power

Abstract

Neoliberalism is most commonly regarded as a discourse of state laissezfaire with regard to both domestic and international markets, as well as a normative theory of radically free and competitive markets as conceived by or thodox economists since the devolution of Keynesian neo-classical synthesis. As such, neoliberalism is a preeminent political eco nomic discourse of our time. Moreover, as a discourse that reflects, as well as constitutes, political economic interests, it is a central ide ology of our time. Neoliberalism is an ideological discourse undergoing change. Most recently, this change has been largely devolutionary. In particular, recent scholarship has belied sundry neoliberal claims: for example, claims for a precipitous race to the bottom so far as tax rates and welfare benefits of rich democ racies go (Swank and Steinmo 2002); claims for the developmental superiority of capital ist income growth in the post-1980 era of oliberal ascendance relative to the preceding post-WXWII decades of the developmental state (Chang 2002); and claims for the pro growth functions of at least one key Interna tional Financial Institution, the IMF (Vree land, 2002). However, change has been evo lutionary as well, evolutionary both with re spect to our understanding of neoliberal pol icy-making practice and with regard to the content of neoliberal ideology itself (Rodrik 2006). Both Aihwa Ong's Neoliberalism as Exception and Monica Prasad's The Politics of Free Markets contributes to our understand ing of changing neoliberal discourse, Ong to the discourse itself. Anthropologist Ong con tributes to the evolution and mapping of in practice, in particular to ne oliberalism as a pair of previously unarticu lated optimizing technologies for the visible hand of national and transnational political economic management. Sociologist Prasad contributes principally to our understanding of the taxation as both cause and component Neoliberalism as Exception: Mutations in Citizenship and Sovereignty, by Aihwa Ong. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006. 295pp. $22.95 paper. ISBN: 0822337487.