http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism It means a modern interpretation of the economic classical liberalism. Classical liberalism was a free market ideology.
This can be a broad topic related to globalization but generally it's about the free market policies of the Washington Consensus as they were interpreted by the IMF and applied to former communist countries in eastern Europe and Latin America during the 90's. I say interpreted by the IMF because the man who came up with the Washington Consesus,John Williamson,disagrees with how the IMF implemented his ideas. The IMF and the Washington Consensus: A Misunderstood and Poorly Implemented Development Strategy
In order to understand neo-liberalism, you'd have to examine Classical Liberalism, as already mentioned. The Classical Liberalist ideology is based on principles of : 1) Meritocracy 2) Individualism / Autonomy 3) Equality 4) Utility 5) Rationality and Reason 1) Meritocracy = we merit what we earn. It is assumed people no longer have a birth right to become King or whatever, and that they have the ability to move from the lower ranks of society, to the upper echelons. This is the "American Dream" mentality or belief that if you work hard enough, you can accumulate wealth and receive that which you deserve. 2) Individualism / Autonomy = Society works best with a formula that maximizes individualism. This can be later applied to the markets, and re-inforces the fact that as rational human beings, we maximize our dignity and creative human nature by protecting and ensuring our own autonomous dependency and individualistic needs. People as individuals are important enough to wear "FCUK" shirts or Che Guevara shirts that prove their individualistic freedoms from oppression and control. People are allowed to operate as rational, thinking and free persons under the acceptance of Individualism. As individuals we give up a certain amount of rights to instill the social contract and protect ourselves from harm, etc. I could go on. 3) Equality = all people are equal. People are equal to make choices and free decisions that apply to their lives. This is somewhat a principle that is tied up predominantly with ideas of Liberty when it comes to NeoLiberalism, ie, everyone has the right to Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness. People equally deserve to benefit from the foundational principles of equalness ; before the law, under the law, and to be treated fairly based upon the law. 4) Utility = the greatest happiness for the greatest number. This principle is aimed at maximizing the "usefulness" of a behaviour or market system based upon a teleological assumption. That is, the principle of utility is geared to focus on "end results" and questions less about the morality behind the means of how we get there. The whole "end justifies the means" stylized notion can objectionably permit majority rule and hinder the growth and prosperity for minority groups, or those that cannot benefit from the maximization of utility within the binding social/economic systems that contain the very upholding principle of utilitarianism. 5) Rationality / Reason = assumption of human nature. We are all rational human beings capable of making our own, individualistic decisions and reason the consequences of our own governance. We make laws, pass codes of conduct based on the principle that people are thinking individuals capable of deciding for themselves what is "Right" and "Wrong" instead of leaving it up to scripture and ancient traditional texts. We fit our social roles based on these principles in the modern Western world. NeoLiberalism is a spin-off of these principles and applies them directly to the market as a tool to regulate the management of our resources and it takes control as the governing body that systemically organizes the way we input our goods as a collective - and it's based on those founding principles found in Classical Liberalism. NB - I'm not here to argue with people. There is room for tit-for-tat in what I've just stated, but I'm trying to provide a roadmap to explain a complex system in an educated way. So I'm not going to argue with anyone about principles - the ones that I have mentioned are enshrined in every law and constitution found across the Western world, and their foundations lead to something else. They are principles after all, and were created as stepping stones to support the modernized world and economies that we participate in today.
