The heartlands of neoliberalism and the rise of the austerity state

Mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.

This chapter explores the genealogy and development of neoliberalism in its heartlands. What
happens here is closely entangled with events, processes and forces elsewhere in the world
market, the world of states and global society. It first considers the meaning of heartlands and note
some paradoxes in its use in geopolitics, geoeconomics and critical studies of neoliberalism.
Second, it presents a typology of neoliberalism, note its hybrid forms, and offer a periodization
for its instantiation in the ‘heartlands’, where its dominant form is principled neoliberal regime
shifts. The best-known cases are the USA and the UK. It then notes that pragmatic neoliberal
policy adjustments can cumulate, through ratchet-like effects, to produce de facto regime shifts.
Here it briefly considers Germany, the leading example, especially given its central position in the
European Union. It concludes with brief comments on the implications of such regime shifts in
the heartlands for (1) core–periphery relations in the heartlands themselves, associated with its
intensification of uneven development and (2) the overall dynamic of a world market organized
in the shadow of neoliberalism.