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Neoliberalism

What is it?

Neoliberalism can be hard to understand, but we will try to provide you with a simple definition here to start your journey.

Neoliberalism means that the world is viewed through the lens of the market. Harvey (2005) calls this “the financialization of everything.” (p. 33)

Neoliberalism is a theory that says that our well being as humans can best be advanced by allowing us to all be entrepreneurs in a society that has strong private rights, free markets and free trade. Neoliberals think the government should get off our backs and allow the capitalist economy to flourish. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well there are some ‘dark’ sides to neoliberalism and in this wiki we explore some of the implications of neoliberal thinking, especially for education policy.

Lots of people think that neoliberalism is inevitable, like Margaret Thatcher in this comic strip picture here. You'll find out more about that idea under the link "The Inevitability of Neoliberalism".

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