Neo-liberalism and the Changing Role of the State: A Critical Analysis

This report critically analyzes the current state of neo-liberalism and its impact on the changing role of the state. It includes a summary of academic literature and news articles, highlighting the flaws of the school of thought and its aftermath in the post-pandemic world.

Neo-liberalism and
the changing role
of the state

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Summary of academic literature.........................................................................................3
Summary of news articles....................................................................................................4
Relevance of news articles to the academic literature.......................................................5
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
When it comes to political landscape in the current times there are many ideologies which
are followed by people and government residing in varied locations and there are many schools
of economic thought which influence the way authorities run the affairs of the country. Out of all
these ideas and philosophies, neo-liberalism is one of the trendiest terms being thrown around by
both scholars and the people of established republics and it is also highly debated and
controversial in nature (Gill and Kanai, 2019). Neo-liberalism refers to the school of thought
which champions the uncontested ruling of private sector in the economic affairs of a country
with focus on functions such as economic liberalization, privatization and free trade and its main
belief is that by allowing markets to run freely without interference from government, economic
growth can be achieved with great efficiency (Collins and Rothe, 2019). This report will
highlight the current developments in the field of neo-liberalism and changing role of state with
reference to news articles published from recognized sources.
MAIN BODY
Summary of academic literature
According to the opinion of Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins (2022), neo-liberalism has seen
unreal downfall as during the 1950's and 60's, there was a growing wave which encapsulated
major entrepreneurs and politicians as the promise of a free market came across as very lucrative
but decades later, it has all come crumbling down and after the 2008 financial crisis, neo-
liberalism has been getting the blame for it all. In a conversation with historian, Gary Gerstle,
Gary states that instead of looking at neo-liberalism as a political ideology, it should be instead
be treated as a world view there economic opportunity is combined with market freedom which
makes the roots of the political ideology both left and right wing oriented (Has Neoliberalism
Really Come to an End?, 2022).
According to the opinion of Lakeisha Watkins (2022), throughout the COVID-19
pandemic, there has been a shameless display by the Australian government as it has displayed a
complete neo-liberal behaviour by prioritizing the recovery and strengthening of the Australian
economy over the lives of its own people. The government of Australia has failed to protect the
people of the country from the deadly virus as the healthcare sector has been neglected to an

extent where ambulances are stretched thin and it took hours to get a single booking even for
emergency cases for toddlers. Despite many Australians losing their loved ones and entire means
of livelihood through deaths and mass job firings, the media has been plastered with the story of
failed businesses instead (Economy over health: Neoliberalism is destroying lives, 2022). The
government has displayed grave empathy towards the business sector affected by COVID-19 but
their own people got neglected because of the trap laid down by principles of neo-liberalism
which seeks to put the economic interest before interest of the people. Neo-liberalism has come
into a negative spotlight once again in mainstream media due to the sufferings being ignored in
Australia of the people affected by COVID-19.
According to James Meadway (2021), the future of neo-liberalism is looking grim as to
compete with China, Western governments are increasing looking to shed their free market
ambitions and taming big tech institutions which is opposing activities to the principles dictated
by the neo-liberalism (Neoliberalism is dying – now we must replace it, 2022). The debate
surrounding neo-liberalism is heating up following the COVID-19 pandemic and there are
multiple activities which can be noticed throughout the world such as UK abandoning its state
aid rules and U.S.A threatening the football clubs with fan ownership which begs the question of
free market policies getting the boot in upcoming years (Katzarova, 2018).
Summary of news articles
The first news article presented in this section belongs to 'The Guardian' news website
titled 'Neoliberal ideology has put social progress in reverse' through which the author, Derrick
Joad highlights the current flaws with the school of thought while arguing that instead of using
free markets to channel growth, governments around the world have done the opposite instead
(Neoliberal ideology has put social progress in reverse, 2022). The belief that neo-liberalism has
integrated into the psyche of politician around the world is one that makes the idea of public
welfare foreign to them as it burdens the development of economies. Following this thought has
led to the people UK and around the world in getting their rights abused and this has appeared to
be even more appalling in the backdrop of COVID-19 and Brexit where business concerns have
been prioritized over wellbeing of people.
The next article is also from the Guardian titled 'Neoliberalism wrecked our chance to fix
the climate crisis – and leftwing statements of faith have changed nothing' authored by Jeff

Sparrow in which he argues that neo-liberalism has not only been responsible for inequality but
has also played a role in making sure the global collective action on the ongoing environment
damage is slowed down to the biggest extent possible (Neoliberalism wrecked our chance to fix
the climate crisis – and leftwing statements of faith have changed nothing, 2022). The author
goes on to explain this opinion in more detail stating that in the 1980's when the world
governments decided to collectively address climate change, the neo-liberal fever gripped their
nations and the thought of free markets being the only saviour of economies and every problem
faced by public has proven to be disastrous. Instead of discouraging the harmful emissions
committed by businesses by banning their operations, they were encouraged to be as efficient as
possible which has further damaged the environment instead of making it greener and more
sustainable (Raschke, 2019).
The final article is from the Deccan Herald named 'Autocratisation of governance' which
has been authored by Nayakara Veeresha in which the author states that by looking at the current
state of the world governments in respect to developed and developing nations, it is clear that the
role of the state in the neo-liberalism governance has changed from being a regulator to a
facilitator (Autocratisation of governance, 2022). A close look at the Indian and the US economy
will reveal that there have been increasing reports of the state curbing dissent in multiple places
and issues of mass incarceration looms over all people whose resistances or views are perceived
as being a threat to the economic functioning of countries irrespective of how harmless they
might actually be.
Relevance of news articles to the academic literature
The literature framework which was provided for this report reflected the current state of
neo-liberalism in the global economy by studying its value and critiques in both developed and
developing markets such as U.S.A, U.K. and Australia. The literature which was studied started
with describing the vast scope of neo-liberalism as a worldview rather than a simplistic political
school of taught and was aimed at helping understand the true nature of neo-liberalism and how
both left and right wing politics failed to truly understand the value represented by free markets.
The concept of neo-liberalism has led governments to prioritize their economic conditions rather
than looking after the people and this was emphasized by the literature which studied the current
happenings in Australia where the mismanagement of COVID-19 pandemic has led to a

tremendous loss of lives. The provided literature also helped analyse the current changing role of
the state as many governments have realized the current wrongdoings happening due to blind
followers letting the markets operate freely. By analysing the activities taking place currently
which include governments cracking down hard on business corporations and seizing some
aspects of the market and imposing serious impositions, it is clear that the state in some criteria’s
is resisting against the traditional ideals of neo-liberalism.
The news articles which were selected in this report connect well together with the
literature summary reviewed as it helps in understanding the current wrongdoings of following
neo-liberalism concepts blindly and its aftermath in the post pandemic world. The basic premise
which neo-liberalism is built on is the belief that leaving the markets unregulated and to function
without interference will lead to unprotested economic growth through natural corrections but an
actual look at economies such as UK and Australia reveals that the opposite has happened in
many cases (Stiglitz, 2019). The current major problems that have gripped the world includes
that of climate change and through news article presented, the neo-liberal school of thought also
comes across and being a major factor which has led to environmental degradation as business
over the world have had very less restrictions imposed on them due to fear of economic backlash
rather than genuine care for the environment. The final article also connects back to the
summarized literature as it helps analyse the role of the state which has changed in developing
economies like India where instead of neo-liberalism fading away, it has made the state go from
being a regulator to a facilitator as there has been increasing attempts at dissent being curbed for
any outlandish reason.
CONCLUSION
The above report went into detail about the political school of thought which is called
neo-liberalism and operates on the belief that deregulating the markets and business operations
everywhere will lead to the best possible growth for any given nation. This belief was out to the
test and critically analysed using summarized literature which described the neo-liberal scope,
current drawbacks and the future which is looking grim in the post pandemic world. The report
also included news article which were carefully selected to further the opinions presented from

the summarized literature framework. The work was concluded by describing the connection
between the chosen news articles on neo-liberalism and the literature presented in the report.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Gill, R. and Kanai, A., 2019. Affirmative advertising and the mediated feeling rules of
neoliberalism. Neoliberalism and the Media, pp.131-46.
Collins, V.E. and Rothe, D.L., 2019. The violence of neoliberalism: crime, harm and inequality.
Routledge.
Katzarova, E., 2018. The Social Construction of Global Corruption: from utopia to
neoliberalism. Springer.
Raschke, C., 2019. Neoliberalism and Political Theology: From Kant to Identity Politics.
Edinburgh University Press.
Stiglitz, J.E., 2019. The end of neoliberalism and the rebirth of history. Project Syndicate, 4(11).
Online referencing
Has Neoliberalism Really Come to an End?, 2022 [online] available through <
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neoliberalism-gary-gerstle/>
Economy over health: Neoliberalism is destroying lives, 2022 [online] available through <
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/economy-over-health-neoliberalism-is-
destroying-lives,15966>
Neoliberalism is dying – now we must replace it, 2022 [online] available through <
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/neoliberalism-is-dying-now-we-must-replace-
it/>
Neoliberal ideology has put social progress in reverse, 2022 [online] available through <
https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2021/nov/30/neoliberal-ideology-has-put-social-
progress-in-reverse>
Neoliberalism wrecked our chance to fix the climate crisis – and leftwing statements of faith
have changed nothing, 2022 [online] available through <

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/17/neoliberalism-wrecked-our-chance-
to-fix-the-climate-crisis-and-leftwing-statements-of-faith-have-changed-nothing>
Autocratisation of governance, 2022 [online] available through <
https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/comment/autocratisation-of-governance-1101124.html>