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Global Circulation and Some Problems in Liberalism, Liberalization, and Neoliberalism

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Literatures of Liberalization

Part of the book series: New Comparisons in World Literature ((NCWL))

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Abstract

This chapter interrogates the connections between liberalism as open-mindedness, tolerance of diversity, individualism, and equality; liberalization as technological modernization and the opening up of cultures; and neoliberalism as the prioritizing of market over other values. With examples from world-historical literatures from China, Europe, India, Latin America, and the Middle East, it considers engagement with western liberalisms and modernization and some recent conflicts between liberalism and neoliberalism. It concludes with some critics and theorists who have wrestled over the years with problems in liberal, liberalizing, and neoliberal societies and whose work in transcultural studies I consider important beyond their specific specialisms in Latin American, South Asian, and Islamic studies: Ileana Rodríguez , Jean Franco , Kancha Ilaiah , Joseph Massad . The chapter is an exercise in comparative political-economic languages and how we might think about literature’s global circulation under interdependent but uneven conditions of development.

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  1. College of Humanities, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Regenia Gagnier

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  1. Regenia Gagnier
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Correspondence to Regenia Gagnier .

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Gagnier, R. (2018). Global Circulation and Some Problems in Liberalism, Liberalization, and Neoliberalism. In: Literatures of Liberalization. New Comparisons in World Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98419-3_2

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