The historical roots of neoliberalism: origin and meaning

Neoliberalism has succeeded in reaching unprecedented levels of power anddomination. Despite this, the literature shows that many aspects of the history of neoliberalismremain unclear. In this regard, this article discusses two notable aspects. The first is thatneoliberalism lacks a clear definition and is often confused with many other concepts. Thesecond aspect relates to the origins of neoliberalism, which are often reduced to a particularversion that does not necessarily reflect the deep roots of neoliberal thought. This article arguesthat subjecting the history of neoliberal thought to scrutiny contributes to removingmany of the ambiguities associated with these two aspects. On the one hand, it allows identifyingthe different interpretations of neoliberalism, and on the other hand, it shows the factthat neoliberalism emerged in the midst of the crisis of classical liberalism and as a reactionto the expansion of collectivism. JEL Classification: B00