The coronavirus crisis and the legitimation crisis of neoliberalism

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the societal consequences of the coronavirus crisis through the lens of critical social theory, advancing a social-theoretical perspective as its main contribution. The central argument is that the question of post-pandemic societal transformation be examined in terms of the pre-existing legitimation crisis of neoliberalism. This is developed through three steps. First, a theoretical framework is outlined for considering social transformation in terms of discursively mediated collective learning processes. Then, two loci of the legitimation crisis of neoliberalism are explored, the political crisis and the climate crisis, to delineate a series of antagonistic fronts shaping the contestation of this model. From this, two broad social movements contending for control of societal development emerge: radical-pluralism and reactionary-populism. Finally, the coronavirus crisis is briefly considered in terms of its interaction with this cleavage.

KEYWORDS:

• Coronavirus
• neoliberalism
• legitimation crisis
• climate crisis

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Roderick Condon

Roderick Condon recently completed his PhD in sociology in University College Cork, Ireland. His research interests are in social theory, critical theory, sociology of culture, and the theory and critique of capitalism. He is currently working on a monograph expanding Jürgen Habermas’s thesis of the colonization of the lifeworld into a critical theory of neoliberalism.