Since the 1980s, neoliberalism has withstood repeated economic shocks and financial crises to become the hegemonic economic policy worldwide. Why has neoliberalism remained so resilient? What is the relationship between this resiliency and the backsliding of Western democracy? Can democracy survive an increasingly authoritarian neoliberal capitalism? Neoliberal Resilience answers these questions by bringing the developing world’s recent history to the forefront of our thinking about democratic capitalism’s future.
Looking at four decades of change in four countries once considered to be leading examples of effective neoliberal policy in Latin America and Eastern Europe—Argentina, Chile, Estonia, and Poland—Aldo Madariaga examines the domestic actors and institutions responsible for defending neoliberalism. Delving into neoliberalism’s political power, Madariaga demonstrates that it is strongest in countries where traditional democratic principles have been slowly and purposefully weakened. He identifies three mechanisms through which coalitions of political, institutional, and financial forces have propagated neoliberalism’s success: the privatization of state companies to create a supporting business class, the use of political institutions to block the representation of alternatives in congress, and the constitutionalization of key economic policies to shield them from partisan influence. Madariaga reflects on today’s most pressing issues, including the influence of increasing austerity measures and the rise of populism.
A comparative exploration of political economics at the peripheries of global capitalism, Neoliberal Resilience investigates the tensions between neoliberalism’s longevity and democracy’s gradual decline.
Aldo Madariaga is an assistant professor at the Center for Economics and Social Policy (CEAS), Universidad Mayor in Santiago, Chile, where he is also an adjunct researcher at the Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (COES).
"A significant contribution to the field of comparative political economy, Neoliberal Resilience tackles the crucial question of the strength of neoliberal economic regimes despite hard times. Madariaga persuasively and innovatively shows that ideas and institutions cannot completely account for such outcomes and that social actors and politics are key. This is a fascinating read."—Eduardo Silva, author of Challenging Neoliberalism in Latin America
"Neoliberal Resilience is a very important addition to the lively debate on the political economy of neoliberalism. Drawing on careful empirical research and a highly sophisticated methodological approach, Madariaga develops a convincing case about the inherent tensions between capitalism and democracy in a globalized and increasingly crisis-ridden world. This book deserves to be read widely."—Jerome Roos, author of Why Not Default?: The Political Economy of Sovereign Debt
"Why do certain countries persist with neoliberal development regimes? In this fine-grained study of four countries, Madariaga skillfully moves between each nation’s unique history and a rich toolkit of theories of institutional change and political economy. Identifying three mechanisms of neoliberal resilience, this sophisticated book is indispensable for students of politics and for those wishing neoliberal countries a different political future."—Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
"In the age of economic nationalism and global pandemics, many believe neoliberalism to be in its death throes. Madariaga instead looks at the sources of its surprising resilience. His timely book is a powerful reminder of the political and societal forces that underpin neoliberalism’s survival, and the damage this has inflicted on democracy. With a spot-on focus on the American and European periphery, laboratories of most radical forms of neoliberalism, this masterfully argued work will inform debates in the years to come."—Dorothee Bohle, European University Institute
