Neoliberal TINA: an ideological and political subversion of liberalism

ABSTRACT

In this article, we argue that TINA – the acronym for ‘There Is No Alternative’ – is the main feature of neoliberalism, and the main political rule of neoliberal states and individuals. This feature challenges the economic and political liberal tradition, both classical and contemporary. We begin by briefly presenting the non-dissociable link between TINA and neoliberalism, and contrasting neoliberal TINA with liberal political theory. As neoliberal ideology is ultimately a global political project, on the one hand, the understanding of TINA can offer complementary political arguments to tackle neoliberalism. On the other hand, the effort to undermine and displace the overwhelming neoliberal political power also must involve dismantling the TINA argument.

Our analysis is also all the more important when neoliberal measures in the European Union are presented as inevitable. We recur mostly to economic aspects of the European sovereign debt crisis, namely the austerity program implemented in Greece and Portugal, to illustrate our arguments.

KEYWORDS:

• Liberalism
• national and international institutions
• neoliberalism
• political
• political rule

Acknowledgment

The author is grateful for the helpful comments and suggestions of the anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

Notes on contributors

Regina Queiroz

Regina Queiroz is a member of the research team at the New Institute of Philosophy (IFILNOVA), at the New University of Lisbon, Portugal. Her areas of research and writing include ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of language.