Syllabus
Course schedule
NB: For a more detailed description of the class topic and assigned reading, please see the course page on Moodle.
Week 1: Introduction: Course overview. What is neoliberalism?
Week 2: A brief history of neoliberalism.
Week 3: Intellectual roots of neoliberalism I: Freedom or socialism?
Week 4: Intellectual Roots of Neoliberalism II: Hayek's critique of mass democracy; Liberal versus conservative aspects of Hayek's thought.
Week 5: Marxist Critique of Neoliberalism I: Neoliberalism and Class Power.
Week 6: Marxist Critique of Neoliberalism II: Neoliberalism and Imperial Power.
Week 7: Michel Foucault’s Critique of Neoliberalism (i).
Week 8: Michel Foucault’s Critique of Neoliberalism (ii).
Week 9: Neoliberal governmentality and democracy (i).
Week 10: Neoliberal governmentality and democracy (ii).
Week 11: Neoliberalism and neoconservatism.
Week 12: Neoliberal hegemony and the current rise of right-wing populism.
Annotation
This course offers a critical perspective on the theoretical foundations and political practice of neoliberalism, which represents not only a school of economic thought, but also, and more importantly, a distinct political ideology, or political rationality, which has significantly influenced the development of Western democracies and broader world in the post-Cold War period. In this course, we will examine the following questions: What are the theoretical foundations of neoliberalism? How does the political practice of neoliberalism affect the functioning of democratic politics as well as our understanding of democracy? How did the quarter of a century long neoliberal hegemony prepare the ground for the current rise of right-wing populism across Europe and beyond?