A Brief History Of Neoliberalism

Content Warning: This section of the guide references state-sponsored racism and anti-gay bias and discrimination.

In the Introduction to A Brief History of Neoliberalism, David Harvey lays out the stakes of his argument. He briefly describes its historical context and why neoliberalism is an issue he is choosing to address in 2005, when the book was written. The introduction opens with a summary of major events that occurred between 1978 and 1980 that revolutionized the global economy: the opening up of China’s economy under Deng Xiaoping beginning in 1978, Paul Volcker’s appointment to the chairman of the US Federal Reserve in 1979, the election of Margaret Thatcher to prime minister in the United Kingdom that same year, and Ronald Reagan’s election to US president in 1980. Harvey describes how these figures “plucked from the shadows of relative obscurity” neoliberalism and made it central to their economic policies (1).

Harvey then defines neoliberalism. He describes it as a theory of political economy wherein individual freedoms are best guaranteed “within an institutional framework characterized by strong private property rights, free markets, and free trade” (2). The job of the state, or the government, within neoliberalism is to support these markets and create new markets where none exists.