An Ideological Critique of Neo-liberalism: A Case Study of Hayek

ABSTRACT

Neo-liberalism can be described as the most influential economic-social ideological trend in the world today, with Hayek as one of the two prominent representatives. He advocates individual liberty, private property rights and spontaneous expansion of order, opposes state regulation, over-welfare, public ownership, and collectivism, etc. These constitute the main contents of his thought. Hayek’s idea can be summed up as economic “liberalization,” “privatization,” and “marketization” based on methodological individualism. No matter whether it is from the angles of political stance, philosophical methodology, value, or policy, the above-mentioned thought embodies super-ideological essence of serving the “narrow interest” and “liberal democracy” of the bourgeoisie. This article seeks to pose a deep ideological criticism of neo-liberalism represented by Hayek with a historical materialism methodology, in order to dispel the ideological fog of contemporary neo-liberalism and prevent the errors possible in our theory or practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Hayek
• methodological individualism
• liberalization
• privatization
• marketization

Acknowledgments

This article is translated by Dr. Peng Chengyi, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on Contributors

Yuan Zhixiu (following Chinese practice, the surname, Yuan, is placed first), Master of law, is a museologist for The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders. Her research focuses on the Chinization of Marxism. She co-authors The Outline of Peace Science.

Zhang Zhidan (following Chinese practice, the surname, Zhang, is placed first), PhD, is a professor at the Research Institute of Moral Education, and the Center of Socialist Ideology Study, School of Marxism in the Nanjing Normal University, China. He is a member of both the Chinese Historical Materialism Society, and the North American Economic Ethics Association. His research areas include contemporary ideology theory and economic ethics. He is the author of Moral Management Theory (People’s Publishing House, 2013), “On Moral Competitiveness,” and “Morality without Ethics and Ethics without Morality: A Decoding of the Ethics-Moral Paradox in Modern Society,” etc.

Additional information

Funding

This paper is the periodical result of the general project titled “A Strategic Study of Enhancing China’s Ideological Function under New Situations” (12BKS069) funded by the National Social Science Fund in 2012.