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Neoliberalism, what is it?
Neoliberalism is view by authors like Fukuyama (1992) and Harris (2007) as an economic, political and philosophical doctrine across the world, with various and uneven national manifestations, depending on “social, cultural and political contexts” (Harris, 2007, p. 3).
And for others such as Weiner (2007), it is a form of political conservatism that draws on tenets of 19th century liberalism (hence the neo in its name). Inspired by Robertson and Dale (2003), his definition of this term resembles that of Fukuyama and Harris: “a political and economic program that aims to contain public spending for social services, integrate economies in a world trading system based on rules established by international finance organizations […] and privatize social services, providing modest compensatory programs when its other programs exacerbate inequality” (Weiner, 2007, p. 164).
In other words, Neoliberalism adopts an internationalist stance, first by reducing the power of the nation state to a certain extent, then by making capitalism a global economic system, creating global markets free from local and national regulations, again to a certain extent (Weiner, 2007, p. 164).
Thus, Neoliberalism became the dominant ideology in modern day societies, whether the country is a developed one, or a developing one, or even a very poor one. As Harris (2007) says, “it is very difficult to think outside the black box” (p. 4).
That dominant ideology has gotten that global reach, affecting and impacting all, due to several factors such as
globalization of capital, rise of international finance (transnational companies/ corporations, financial international organizations like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization), international research (Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Programs in International Reading Literacy Study(PIRLS), etc.) and the organizations that produce them (OECD amongst others).
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