Regardless of whether you define
your political beliefs as a liberal, neoliberal, or libertarian. One element
remains. A belief in individual liberty.
However, neoliberalism as a
construct has become a synonym, often used as a derogatory term by the traditional
left. And occasionally a descriptive term for policy on the traditional
economic right. Part one of Dardot, Pierre and Laval’s book, “The New Way of the World: On Neoliberal
Society”, translated in 2014, outlines the crisis of “Classical Liberalism”
and the resulting birth of “Neoliberal” thought.
On the contrary to modern popular
belief, neoliberalism is not simply the idea of “laisse faire” free market
economics, small government, and personal freedom as prescribers to modern day libertarianism
may lead you to believe…due to the interchangeable nature of the descriptors in
contemporary political followings. But in fact, was birthed as the third way
between social liberal and classically liberal politics. Resulting from, as
Dardot, Pierre and Laval (2014: 27) state “the long crisis of liberalism that
extended from the 1880s to the 1930s”
But why is this the case? The
failures of neoliberalism (by its original definition) in eyes of social
liberals in the Thatcherite years may be to blame. Personal economic freedom propagated
by a strong central state regulator caused social and political upheaval in the
UK during the 80s. The Guardian columnist, Seumas Milne illustrated this with
his 2014 publication “During the miner’s strike, Thatcher’s secret state with
the real enemy within”. Labelling the socially liberal left (trade unionists
and Labour followers) as “enemies of democracy.” So, despite the Thatcher era
arguably aiding the expansion and prosperity of the late 80s UK economy, the
way in which the new domestic wealth didn’t “trickle down” throughout all
socio-economic boundaries, made a large proportion of society perceive Thatcher’s
alignments as classically liberal values, and the failure of these to “fairly” distribute
income. Which conveniently challenges what Dardot, Pierre and Laval declare, “any
distortion of competition betrays the illegitimate domination either of the
state or of a group of private interests over the individual. It is comparable
to tyranny and exploitation.” (2014; 100)
Therefore, labelling yourself as
a neoliberal, likewise to Thatcher, perhaps became a declaration of being a
libertarian and neoconservative by their modern definitions. However, if you
look closely into the wording of many prominent neoconservative politicians up
in till the turn of the century, declaring themselves as neoliberal was a rarity.
Hopefully, this is because learned politicians would rather be correct in their
description of their political alignment academically, than pertain to a
populist presumption.
Yet, the late 90s brought about a
new wave of traditional neoliberalist politicians and movements. “New Labour”
springs to mind with Blairite doctrine of socially liberal values but also fundamental
economic individual liberty founded once again in financial regulatory balance.
Liam Halligan, in the telegraph wrote, the Blair premiership brought the UK “kicking
and screaming, into the modern world” economically. It can be argued then that
globalisation may have legitimatised the implementation of neoliberal ideas
once again.
But still, those of the traditionally
liberal persuasion still to this day look at the emergence of neoliberal ideas
once again as an onslaught of traditional conservative politics penetration the
party lines. “Old Labour” prescribers illustrate this using the Blair
premiership as a prime example. The lack of “renationalisation” of public
services and the “deregulation” of the financial markets paint the visual
picture.
To conclude, among the “learned” politicians
the definition of neoliberalism is not unfounded, however in my opinion, it is
used as an effective propaganda buzzword by the traditional political left to
allow social liberals to recoil when regulation that promotes economic
individual liberty (and consequently self-accountability) tries to be
implemented.
By
Jack Caine
References:
Milne,
Seumas. "During The Miners’ Strike, Thatcher’S Secret State Was The Real
Enemy Within". The Guardian 2014: A single page. Web. 8 Nov. 2016. Found
at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/03/miners-strike-thatcher-real-enemy-within-extremism
Halligan,
Liam. "How Did Tony Blair Leave The British Economy?".
Telegraph.co.uk. N.p., 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2016. Found at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10992792/How-did-Tony-Blair-leave-the-British-economy.html
Dardot,
Pierre and Christian Laval translated by Gregory Elliot. The New Way Of The
World. London Verso Books, 2014. Print.
"The
"New Labour Are Left Wing" Myth".
Anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk. N.p., 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2016. Found at: http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/new-labour-left-wing-myth.html
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