Neoliberalism: The Polanyian perspective

Abstract

Karl Polanyi demonstrated that Classical Liberalism and current neoliberalism were organized political movements, but their successes sparked social and political backlash. This dialectic continues to shape domestic and international policy discourse and social movements. Inspired by Polanyi’s masterwork, The Great Transformation, this paper offers a periodization of the dialectic interaction, or “double movement”, to guide our understanding of today’s neoliberalism. It also seeks to shed light on some recent changes in policy discourse since the 2008 global financial crisis.

JEL: B15; B17; B25