Beyond Neoliberalism? Crisis and the Prospects for Progressive Alternatives

The onset of the current global economic crisis was hailed by many as signalling the demise of neoliberal hegemony. Two years on however, neoliberalism appears to be quite durable. Indeed, after a brief period of Keynesian-type responses, states, on the whole, have embraced neoliberal solutions to the fiscal problems generated by the crisis. Greece, for example, is now following an IMF programme of privatisation and cuts to social expenditure, while other European nations are pursuing austerity policies. In the USA, state and municipal governments are selling off public assets in response to mounting deficits. This paper explains the durability of neoliberalism and the opportunities and challenges it creates for non-neoliberal progressive policy agendas. Drawing upon Karl Polanyi's conceptual framework, this paper argues that neoliberalism is best understood as a historically specific process of state and economic restructuring that is socially embedded through three mechanisms: ideological norms, class relations, and institutional rules. This paper examines responses by states to the crises and concludes that, although the ideological legitimacy of neoliberalism has been somewhat weakened, there is little evidence to suggest that the three mechanisms, through which neoliberalism is socially embedded, have been significantly eroded. The implication for progressive politics is that, just as neoliberalism is socially embedded, so would a successful progressive non-neoliberal political programme need to be socially embedded: through the articulation of a coherent alternative ideology; through the mobilisation of social forces; and through the institutionalisation of non-neoliberal rules and norms within the apparatuses of the state.