Neoliberalism as an object of political analysis: an ideology, a mode of regulation or a governmentality?

Abstract

This article aims to bring some definitional clarity to the study of neoliberalism by investigating the three most common conceptualisations of the project as an ideology, mode of regulation, and market-oriented governmentality. It is argued that the heretofore somewhat marginalised governmentality perspective offers the most untapped potential for new analytical insights due to its ability to avoid three problems apparent in the literature on neoliberalism: the conflation of the governmental and hegemonic politics of neoliberalism; the prevalence of overly simplistic periodisations of neoliberalism; and, the failure to grasp the importance of processes of subjectification to the practical functioning of neoliberalism.