On “progressive neoliberalism” from a discursive perspective:“Progress” as an empty signifier

Academia Letters, США. 2021. No. 2. P. 1–5.

Baysha O.

Many critical thinkers agree that it is the inequalities and injustices of the global neoliberalorder which have brought about “the populist explosion” (Butler, 2016; Harvey, 2018; Judis,2016; Mouffe, 2016; Taguieff, 2016; Žižek, 2018).1All the latest populist developments2–from the left-wing populism in Greece, Spain, or Italy to the right-wing populism in France,Austria, or Finland – are seen from this perspective “as if masses of people throughout theworldhadstoppedbelievinginthe reigningcommonsensethat hasunderpinnedpolitical dom-ination for the last several decades,” as Nancy Fraser puts it (2019, p. 8). An important ques-tion then arises: what made the ideology of neoliberalism so successful that it assumed therole of the “common sense” reigning globally?

Keywords: Neoliberalism, discourse theory, empty signifier, progressive neoliberalism