Приключения «неолиберализма»

Высшая школа экономики , 2022. № WP3/2022/01.

Kapeliushnikov R.

The paper examines the genealogy and metamorphosis of the term “neoliberalismˮ. It is one of the most fashionable and widespread concepts, actively used today in wide array of social disciplines – sociology, anthropology, history, geography, gender studies, theory of international relations etc. Neoliberalism is regarded by its critics as the most successful ideology in the whole history. It is argued to constitute the meaning and essence of the modern era and to be the cause of all the problems of today’s world – inequality, poverty, climate change, globalization, fi nancial crises, the COVID-19 pandemic, etc. The fi rst part analyzes the unique features of this concept: the absence of real “neoliberalsˮ; pejorativeness (used exclusively as a swear label); ideological asymmetry (existence only in the lexicon of leftist theorists); semantic emptiness; vastness. The second part examines the various historical incarnations of neoliberalism, from the original one, which emerged in Austria in the 1920s, to the contemporary one. It is shown that over the course of its life it has changed its meaning and evaluative character more than once. The author concludes that “neoliberalismˮ is a key element in the worldview of contemporary leftist intellectuals, where it takes the form of a faceless metaphysical evil that spreads its wings over all mankind and leads it from one disaster to another.

Keywords: идеология, Мишель Фуко, неолиберализм, классический либерализм, Александр Рюстов