Post-neoliberal cycle? A historical-conceptual approach to the crisis of neoliberalism in South America

Abstract

The neoliberalism crisis in South America, at the beginning of the XXI century, opened a new political scenario distinguished by the emergence of new social movements and left or progressive governments that question the key aspects of Washington Consensus. The development of this new political period motivated an intense academic debate around the appropriate theoretical categories to explain and “name” those political processes and experiences. Despite the multiplicity of perspectives and approaches that were elaborated, the notion of post-neoliberalism had a major impact and generated more controversies (Stoessel, 2015:7). In this work we try to discuss that notion and propose as an alternative the category “crisis of political legitimacy of neoliberalism” (Gago, 2014). First, we reconstruct and analyze the political period that begins with the crisis of neoliberalism, pointing out the elements of continuity and change regarding the neoliberal phase. Second, we introduce the diverse political projects that were configured after the neoliberal crisis in South America. Finally, we assume the theoretical category of “crisis of political legitimacy of neoliberalism” to think about the new political scenario opened in the region at that historical moment.