logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2020
1h 18m

Adam Kotsko, "Neoliberalism's Demons: On...

Marshall Poe
About this episode

It’s hard to avoid conversations about ‘neoliberalism’ these days. The meaning of the term—indeed its very existence—is hotly contested. Adam Kotsko argues in Neoliberalism’s Demons: On the Political Theology of Late Capital (Stanford University Press, 2018) that self-denial is part of the mystifying agenda of neoliberalism itself. Not only is neoliberalism real, it’s the defining ethos of modernity.

Neoliberalism’s Demons posits we can best understand neoliberalism through the lens of political theology. Kotsko challenges the dichotomy of economics and politics, suggesting that neoliberalism permeates and unites these two. It does so by importing the moral schema of Christianity which creates the conditions for failure for the express purpose of assigning blame to those who fail. Neoliberalism’s Demons is a concise and persuasive account of the political, economic, and moral universe we inhabit, and is therefore essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand their own condition.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

Up next
Yesterday
Robert G. Morrison, "Merchants of Knowledge: Intellectual Exchange in the Ottoman Empire and Renaissance Europe" (Stanford UP, 2025)
Between 1450 and 1550, a remarkable century of intellectual exchange developed across the Eastern Mediterranean. As Renaissance Europe depended on knowledge from the Ottoman Empire, and the courts of Mehmed the Conqueror and Bayezid II greatly benefitted from knowledge coming out ... Show More
1h 2m
Jul 9
Jyotsna G. Singh, "Shakespeare and Postcolonial Theory" (Bloomsbury, 2019)
My guest today is Jyotsna Singh, Professor Emerita of English at Michigan State University. She has written numerous books including Colonial Narratives/Cultural Dialogues: “Discovery” of India in the Language of Colonialism (Routledge), and The Weyward Sisters: Shakespeare and F ... Show More
1h 16m
Jul 8
Myles Lennon, "Subjects of the Sun: Solar Energy in the Shadows of Racial Capitalism" (Duke UP, 2025)
In the face of accelerating climate change, anticapitalist environmental justice activists and elite tech corporations increasingly see eye to eye. Both envision solar-powered futures where renewable energy redresses gentrification, systemic racism, and underemployment. However, ... Show More
1h 10m
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2023
Samuel Moyn, "Liberalism Against Itself: Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of Our Times" (Yale UP, 2023)
By the middle of the twentieth century, many liberals looked glumly at the world modernity had brought about, with its devastating wars, rising totalitarianism, and permanent nuclear terror. They concluded that, far from offering a solution to these problems, the ideals of the En ... Show More
49m 55s
May 2019
Ep 128 | Am I a Neoliberal Shill? Are You? | Guest: Colin Mortimer
Have you seen the term “neoliberal” floating around the political sphere? Has someone ever thrown a tomato at you and insisted you’re a neoliberal shill? Heaton brings on the Executive Director of the Neoliberal project to answer: what the hell is neoliberalism, exactly? 
41m 45s
May 2022
Romaric Godin : “Le macronisme est une forme extrême de néolibéralisme au regard de la France”
Romaric Godin est journaliste économique à Mediapart, et l’auteur de “La guerre sociale en France : aux sources économiques de la démocratie autoritaire”. L’ouvrage permet de mieux comprendre le projet d’Emmanuel Macron et ses fondements idéologiques : comment le macronisme - qui ... Show More
1h 9m
Apr 2024
Words of Attack: Rhetoric Against Liberal Democratic Values with James McAdams
With a presidential campaign in the US just around the corner and populist and authoritarian thinkers gaining broader platforms, University of Notre Dame political scientist A. James McAdams shines a light on the terms being used today by the Far Right to undermine liberal democr ... Show More
32m 56s
Mar 2023
Toby Green and Thomas Fazi, "The Covid Consensus: The Global Assault on Democracy and the Poor—A Critique from the Left" (Hurst, 2023)
During the first months of the pandemic, governments worldwide agreed that ‘following the science’ with hard lockdowns and vaccine mandates was the best way to preserve life. But evidence is mounting that ‘the science’ was all politics and time reveals the horrific human and econ ... Show More
1h 16m
Oct 2023
How neoliberalism turned the work ethic against workers (with Elizabeth Anderson)
The majority of U.S. workers aren’t compensated anywhere near the value that they actually create for society, while the few who make the most money often work the least and contribute very little. Decades of neoliberal thinking has twisted one of the foundational American belief ... Show More
46m 45s
May 2024
Defending Socialism: A Logical Critique of Capitalism
Philosopher Scott Sehon joins Breht to discuss his new book "Socialism: A Logical Introduction". Together they analyze arguments in favor of capitalism, argue against them, and defend socialism as a superior form of socio-economic organization in the process. They discuss differe ... Show More
1h 33m
Nov 2023
What Is Liberalism?
When we hear the word “liberalism”, we often think of liberal politics. But Christianity and Liberalism has religion in mind. Machen shows what happens when liberalism is inserted into religion—it morphs into something completely different from biblical Christianity. So what make ... Show More
40m 25s
Dec 2023
Vikash Yadav - Liberalism's Last Man
"What about our system of liberal meritocratic capitalism is good and useful? What about it is worth preserving, expanding and fixing, so that we can be prepared for the challenges that are coming?" Professor Vikash Yadav joins Cole to discuss his book, "Liberalism's Last Man". T ... Show More
1h 21m
Jul 2021
Capitalism: What Makes Us Free?
What's the role of government in society? What do we mean when we talk about individual responsibility? What makes us free? 'Neoliberalism' might feel like a squishy term that's hard to define and understand. But this ideology, founded by a group of men in the Swiss Alps, is a po ... Show More
52m 27s