A Dead-End Street: Why the Notion of “Neoliberalism” Has No Place in the Academic Discussion about the Changes in Easte

This article discusses the well-known argument that after the collapse of Marxist dictatorships something called „neoliberalism“ triumphed in Eastern Europe, and that any analysis of the drastic and painful changes that occurred in the 1990s should therefore be reduced to a radical critique of neoliberal ideas and practices. My central thesis is that the term „neoliberalism“ is so ill-defined and so indiscriminately used that it has become an insurmountable obstacle to any attempt at meaningful analysis – those who use it base their theses on a priori assumptions and simple syllogisms rather than empirical analysis and facts. In addition to challenging the conceptual and methodological value of the term „neoliberalism“, the article offers two specific claims for critique: 1) By the late 1980s in many Soviet satellites, neoliberal ideas already dominated the thinking of political and intellectual elites; and 2) After 1989 the „hegemony“ of these ideas was consolidated as a result of the „dictates“ of „international financial institutions“. The main message of the article is that researchers who analyse the phenomena that marked the 1990s in Eastern Europe should articulate not accusations of neoliberalism, but conceptually clear, methodologically grounded and empirically adequate interpretations of early post-communism as a unique historical context.