The Anglo-American Model of Neoliberalism of the 1980s Construction, Development and Dissemination Edited by Nathalie Lévy · Alexis Chommeloux · Nathalie A. Champroux · Stéphane Porion · Selma Josso · Audrey Damiens The Anglo-American Model of Neoliberalism of the 1980s · · Nathalie Lévy Alexis Chommeloux · · Nathalie A. Champroux Stéphane Porion · Selma Josso Audrey Damiens Editors The Anglo-American Model of Neoliberalism of the 1980s Construction, Development and Dissemination Editors Nathalie Lévy Alexis Chommeloux University of Tours University of Tours Tours, France Tours, France Nathalie A. Champroux Stéphane Porion University of Tours University of Tours Tours, France Tours, France Selma Josso Audrey Damiens University of Tours University of Tours Tours, France Tours, France ISBN 978-3-031-12073-2 ISBN 978-3-031-12074-9 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12074-9 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. 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Cover illustration: © Alex Linch/shutterstock.com This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Foreword Since the end of the “long 1990s”, the advance of new forms of economic and political reaction has opened up fresh questions about how neoliber- alism shaped present crises in Europe and the United States. The historical development of neoliberal politics, the compass of its explanatory power and its continued relevance remain contested. The chapters in this rich collection deepen our understanding of these critical historical questions by focusing on specific examples of neoliberal dissemination in practice. This volume presents an impressive range of fine-grained research that sheds light on the enduring problem of the meaning and significance of neoliberalism. Three critical themes emerge, which it seems to me, are essential to a critical appreciation of the role of neoliberalism in recent and contemporary transatlantic political, economic and intellectual history. First, the contributions in this book are grounded in the particular political struggles in which neoliberal politics took shape in different contexts. It is only through detailed analysis of these moments and movements in Europe and the United States that the real significance of neoliberalism is clarified. Within crucial points of inflection exam- ined through case studies ranging from Chirac’s brief premiership in the 1980s or Walt Disney’s neoliberalisation of culture to European policy initiatives such as the European Semester or Social Impact Bonds, the chapters show how neoliberal ideas were introduced, often in tension with older embedded ideas, whether liberal, conservative, social-democratic or authoritarian. Importantly, neoliberalism is not a single thing, good or v vi FOREWORD bad. Its many manifestations were tempered and tapered by the continued power of alternative ideas. Yet, neoliberal ideas often broke through and, over time, a new paradigm that the “market works” became entrenched. The extraordinary variety of these chapters mirrors the diverse influence of neoliberal politics across the very different political cultures of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Europe. Second, most clearly, the troubled relationship of neoliberal ideas with democracy illustrates why neoliberal economic models persist amidst the chaos of resurgent authoritarian populism. Neoliberalism was never simply the “End of History”, the generator or guarantor of a harmonious liberal democracy. Friedman, Buchanan and Hayek all emphasised neoliberal economic freedom over democracy, not the other way around. Dereg- ulation had powerful regulatory effects that reframed the balance of economic and political power. Liberalisation reduced the power of labour. Economic freedom, defined as self-interested market exchange, was more important in the neoliberal worldview than political freedom. Applica- tions of neoliberalism could therefore quite happily coexist with social illiberalism or worse because neoliberal freedom was never conceived in terms of democratic accountability. Democratic freedom was incidental and, as it has turned out, entirely contingent. Many of the chapters in this book highlight this feature of neoliberalism as essential to understanding the historical influence and role of neoliberal ideas and politics but also provide insight into why its influence is likely to continue. Third, the book’s focus on the critical political struggles, successes and challenges of neoliberalism avoids an unduly narrow focus on the intellectual lights of the Mont Pelerin Society, important though many of its members were to the trajectory of neoliberal ideas. These ideas mattered less for the ups and downs of figures within its intellectual clubs and more for their mediated and interpreted application to real political and economic problems. It was in these arenas that ideas drove historical change. The detailed case studies presented here provide a necessary lens if we are to refine our answers to the central question of the meaning of neoliberalism. I am honoured to recommend reading this collection. It will sharpen understanding of neoliberal politics, its past and future. London, UK Daniel Stedman Jones Contents 1 Liberalism in Twentieth Century Britain and Progressivism in Twentieth-Century America: Contacts, Conflicts and Connections (1832–1945) 1 Kenneth O. Morgan 2 The Intellectual Roots of Neoliberalism: Advocating for a New Paradigm (1945–1979) 13 Stéphane Porion and Sébastien Mort 3 Introduction 27 Nathalie A. Champroux, Alexis Chommeloux, and Stéphane Porion Part I The Neoliberal Model, Theoretical and Political Perspectives 4 Standing the Test of Time? The “Resilience” of the Anglo-American Neoliberal Paradigm in the Post-financial Crisis, Post-Covid Era 49 Martine Azuelos 5 Genealogy and Architecture of a Global Model: The Role of British and American Conservative Think Tanks in the Dissemination of Neoliberal Ideas 65 Virgile Lorenzoni vii viii CONTENTS 6 Anglo-American Neoliberalism: An Illiberal Model? 81 Raphaël Demias-Morisset 7 Neoliberalism in Britain: From Origins to Orthodoxy 97 Peter Dorey 8 Winning Without Winning: Neoliberalism, Public Opinion, and Electoral Politics in the United States (1968–2000) 117 Robert Mason Part II Transfer of the Neoliberal Paradigm Within the Anglosphere 9 The Originalism of American Federal Judges or the Establishment of Constitutional Foundations for Economic Liberalism Since the 1970s 137 Thierry Kirat and Frédéric Marty 10 Was United States Financial Liberalisation in the 1980s Inspired by the Neoliberal Model? (1913–2013) 155 Nathalie Lévy 11 From Thatcher to Johnson: 40 years of Neoliberalism in the UK, Continuities and Adaptations 177 Catherine Mathieu 12 Exploring the Neoliberal Health Legacy in Britain 193 Louise Dalingwater 13 The Limits of the Neoliberal Paradigm? Health Care Politics and the Sexual Revolutions in the United States at a Time of Crisis (1970–1992) 211 Jonathan Bell 14 Detention of Undocumented Migrants: From Reagan’s Neoliberal, Money-Led Legacy to a More Humanistic Approach 227 Agnès de Fraissinette CONTENTS ix Part III Dissemination in Europe 15 Expanding the Kingdom: The Walt Disney Company as a Purveyor of Neoliberal Logic 247 Ilias Ben Mna 16 Has Anglo-American Neoliberalism Been a Model for France? The Case of Economic and Financial Reforms (1986–1988) 263 Florence Descamps and Laure Quennouëlle-Corre 17 European Economic Governance, the European Semester and Health: Reflections from the French Case 279 Selma Josso 18 From New Public Management to Social Impact Bonds: The European Experience 293 Rosella Carè 19 From “No-Liberalism” to Neoliberalism in Central Eastern Europe of the Late Twentieth Century: A Success Story? 319 Barbara Curyło Index 331 Editors and Contributors About the Editors Nathalie Lévy is Senior Lecturer at the University of Tours (France) and Researcher at IRJI François-Rabelais. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Nanterre—Paris 10. Her research focuses on monetary economics, financial structures and transparency. Alexis Chommeloux is Senior Lecturer at the University of Tours (France), where he teaches in the Law & Languages Department, and Researcher at ICD. Holder of a Ph.D. from Université Sorbonne Nouvelle—Paris 3, his research, which focused initially on the relationship between British employers and the Conservative Party, now encompasses various aspects of British studies which he examines mainly from a legal perspective. Nathalie A. Champroux is Professor at the University of Tours (France) and Researcher at ICD, after studying at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle— Paris 3 and teaching at UPEC—Paris 12. She teaches British History at the Department of Modern Languages Studies. Her research focuses on modern economic history, particularly on British monetary policy since 1945. xi