Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/20806
Title: Neoliberalism by Stealth: Exposing the flaw of neoliberal understandings of 'freedom'
Contributor(s): Thompson, Lester j (author); Coghlan, Jo  (author)orcid 
Publication Date: 2015
Open Access: Yes
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/20806
Open Access Link: http://www.socialalternatives.com/sites/default/files/pdf/issue/free/soc_alt_vol_34_3_journal.pdfOpen Access Link
Abstract: A foundational principle of classical liberalism was freedom from social and economic oppression. The contemporary neoclassical, or neoliberal, manifestation of classic liberalism applauds freedom but seems vague about the oppression it rejects. This is particularly evident when justifying neoliberal demands for deregulation, small government and market facilitation. In embracing neoliberal ideas, successive Australian governments have ignored these logical weaknesses regarding freedom and oppression while normalising free-market public policy. This paper argues that in government and public opinion, neoliberal principles continue to dominate by stealth without acknowledgement that they are oppressive rather than liberating. Policy based on such theories needs reconsideration as the logic that justified its precursor, classical liberalism, has been generalised as justification for neoliberal policy that is not grounded in the need for freedom from oppression.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Social Alternatives, 34(3), p. 60-66
Publisher: Social Alternatives
Place of Publication: Australia
ISSN: 1836-6600
0155-0306
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 160805 Social Change
160801 Applied Sociology, Program Evaluation and Social Impact Assessment
160806 Social Theory
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 441004 Social change
441001 Applied sociology, program evaluation and social impact assessment
441005 Social theory
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 959999 Cultural Understanding not elsewhere classified
949999 Law, Politics and Community Services not elsewhere classified
970116 Expanding Knowledge through Studies of Human Society
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 280123 Expanding knowledge in human society
280114 Expanding knowledge in Indigenous studies
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

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