David Harvey Interview

In this interview, author David Harvey gives a very well thought out argument as to what neoliberalism is and why people need to understand the concept. He begins by giving his interpretation of  what neoliberalism is, calling it a “…political project carried out by the corporate capitalist class as they felt intensely threatened both politically and economically towards the end of the 1960s and 1970s.” He explains that this “project” was carried out to stem the flow of revolutionary and communist movements that were occurring all over the globe. The capitalist class was looking for a way to regain control over the laboring classes. I think that the most important part of his interview was at the very end, where he stated that “The reorganization process and turn to flexible accumulation during neoliberal times has produced a Left that is also, in many ways, it’s mirror: networking, decentralized, non-hierarchical.” This mirror element between the Left and neoliberalism is a key factor in why he believes that the Left needs to focus more on ending capitalism rather than ending neoliberalism. He argues that in the Global North, there hasn’t been enough resistance to neoliberalism because people are more focused on securing individual freedoms over collective freedoms. There have been places where the struggle to improve daily life has been fought, but in the Global North, there isn’t really a sense that capitalism in itself is the problem.