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7 - Neoliberalism

The Ideology of the Superorganism

from Part II - The Rise and Consolidation of State/Market Societies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2021

John M. Gowdy
Affiliation:
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York
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Summary

The forces that reorganized human society that came with the agricultural revolution still control and constrain our social evolution today. The human global economy has become a global, unified, interlocking system of resource extraction and surplus production. Integral to this system are institutions and belief systems supporting it. Today, neoliberalism is the dominant ideology supporting the ultrasocial system. Far from supporting individual freedom, it is a philosophy that defends sacrificing the well-being of individuals for the benefit of the global market. Fredrich Hayek, one of the leading figures of neoliberal thought, was influenced by biological theories of group selection and recognized that the market economy was a kind of superorganism. Neoliberals explicitly argue that the market is a supreme information processing system, far superior to human reason. The political agenda of neoliberals is twofold: to protect the market from public regulation and to promote government spending to expand market activity.

Type
Chapter
Information
Ultrasocial
The Evolution of Human Nature and the Quest for a Sustainable Future
, pp. 129 - 146
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Neoliberalism
  • John M. Gowdy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York
  • Book: Ultrasocial
  • Online publication: 09 October 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108974264.010
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  • Neoliberalism
  • John M. Gowdy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York
  • Book: Ultrasocial
  • Online publication: 09 October 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108974264.010
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Neoliberalism
  • John M. Gowdy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York
  • Book: Ultrasocial
  • Online publication: 09 October 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108974264.010
Available formats
×