Contesting

neoliberalism in the
British Isles
Neoliberalism
• Coined in the 1980s: new form of free-market capitalism/ classical
capitalism
• Origins: European liberal thinkers in the 1930s (after Great
Depression)
• To counter post-war consensus (Keynes)
• Term used after Pinochet’s economic reforms in Chile (Chicago Boys)
• Walter Lipmann Colloquim (25 intellectuals) Aug 1938 Paris
• Milton Friedman Fredrich Hayek
• Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan
• Economic liberalization
• Privatization
• Deregulation
• Free trade
• Monetarism
• Reducing state control and government spending
• « there is no alternative »
• Link with current authoritarian regimes? (Trump)
• This shift altered state-society relations, public services, labour markets, and political discourse
in the British Isles
The United Kingdom:
Margaret Thatcher’s government : privatising industries, breaking trade unions, reducing state
intervention.
Blair’s “Third Way »: market logic within a social democratic framework.
Republic of Ireland:
from protectionism to open market economy in the 1990s (Celtic Tiger).
EU integration = neoliberal reforms : public service cuts, welfare reform, corporate tax strategies.
Intensification of austerity measure after 2008 financial crisis
Deregulation of financial services
1970s–early 1980s
• Pressure to modernise financial markets and reduce state intervention: neoliberalism
(free markets and minimal regulation)
The “Big Bang” 27 October 1986
Deregulation of the London Stock Exchange
• Removal of fixed commission charges.
• End of the separation between stockbrokers and stockjobbers.
• Opened up ownership of UK financial firms to foreign firms.
• Accelerated computerised trading and the globalisation of London’s financial sector.
• Transformed London into a global financial hub.
• Encouraged competition and innovation, but also increased risk-taking and
speculation.
• New Labour (1997–2010) light regulation under Chancellor Gordon Brown.

• Expansion of complex financial products (derivatives, mortgage-backed securities).

• UK financial sector grew to dominate the economy

2008 Financial Crisis

UK: Anti-austerity protests (UK Uncut, People’s Assembly, Occupy: St Paul’s London).

Post-Crash Economics Society Manchester University

Scotland: Radical independence movement challenging neoliberal Unionist logic.

Northern Ireland: Community resistance to welfare reform imposed via Westminster.

Political Alternatives:

Corbynism as a counter-neoliberal vision: democratisation of economy, public ownership.

Common and co-operative ownership (empower people) / decentralised and active state (New Economics Foundation)

In Ireland: Rise of Sinn Féin and leftist independents challenging housing crisis and inequality.
Cultural Resistance:

Literature, film, and performance as tools of critique (Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake).

Performance in protest (the clowns)

Social media organizing, alternative media (Novara Media, The Canary).

Alternative cultures and political satire:

Militant Comedy & Art: collectives like Led By Donkeys use humor and giant posters to denounce the hypocrisy of neoliberal
political elites.

Music & spoken word: artists like Lowkey, Kae Tempest, or Sleaford Mods openly criticize inequalities, precariousness and
state violence.

• •
Housing & Fights against financialization

• Focus: London, Dublin

• Focus E15 (London): group of young mothers threatened with eviction who occupied empty
social housing to denounce neoliberal housing policies.

• Take Back the City (Dublin): campaign against real estate speculation and for a right to non-
commercialized public housing.
Strikes and union mobilization:

• RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers' Union): led by Mick Lynch, this union has become emblematic of
recent mobilizations against the privatization of transport and for better wages.

• University and College Union (UCU): prolonged strikes in British universities since 2018 against the
precariousness of academic work, pension reform and managerial logic.

Solidarity networks and alternative economy:

Community cooperatives: development of food cooperatives, time banks or initiatives such as "solidarity kitchens".

• Ex: Grow Heathrow, an ecological occupation in West London on land threatened by the extension of the airport.

Preston Model (Lancashire): example of "community wealth building": the town hall relocates public markets to local
companies, cooperatives and ethical suppliers.
Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp (1981–2000) Greenham
Common, Berkshire, England: September 1981

Initiated by: A group of Welsh women from the “Women for Life on Earth” movement
Tactics: Permanent peace camps set up outside the base. Non-violent direct action,
“Embrace the Base” (Dec 1982): over 30,000 women joined hands around the base’s perimeter fence.
Themes: anti-nuclear and feminist critique, challenged both militarism and patriarchal structures (nuclear weapons as expression
of state and male violence.)
Women Against Pit Closures (1984–85)
• women involved in the miners’ strike and opposed Thatcher’s turning to nuclear energy as a tool to break coal unions.
• community kitchens, organised protests,
Anti-Nuclear Groups in Scotland
• In the 2000s, Scottish women in opposition to Trident (the UK’s nuclear deterrent).
• hunger strikes, symbolic vigils, and blockades,
Alternative education:

• School of Social Movements (Scotland, Wales): horizontal educational projects created to think
collectively about alternatives to capitalism and neoliberalism.

• Student movement: university occupations, protests against tuition fees and the commodification of
education, especially at the University of Manchester or UCL.

Resistance to ecological exploitation:

• Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion: explicit criticism of the links between extractivism, neoliberal
capitalism and climate crisis.

• In Ireland: opposition to energy-intensive data centers, lithium mines, or water privatization (with
campaigns like Right2Water).
• Heterodox economics v. orthodox economics
• Is economics a science?