The Origins of Neoliberalism ─ Insights from Economics and Philosophy

Neoliberalism is a doctrine that adopts a free market policy in a deregulated political framework. In recent years, neoliberalism has become increasingly prominent as a doctrine in Western society, and has been heavily discussed in both academia and the media.

This new book from an economist and a philosopher offers a new interpretation of neoliberalism. It offers a theoretical overview both of neoliberalism’s genesis and of its political consequences. Tracing the sources of neoliberalism within the history of economic thought and the history of philosophy, the book explores the differences between neoliberalism and classical liberalism. The book uses this historical framework to argue that neoliberalism is not a natural development of the old classical liberalism, but rather that it represents a dramatic alteration in its nature and meaning.

In its use of both history of economics and philosophy, this book takes a highly original approach to the concept of neoliberalism. The analysis presented here will be of great interest to scholars and students of history of economics, political economy, and philosophy of social science.

Giandomenica Becchio is assistant professor of economics at the University of Turin, Italy.

Giovanni Leghissa is a research fellow in the Department of Philosophy, University of Turin, Italy