Factors like community, culture and nation weaken the hegemony of neoliberalism today. Discuss.

Neoliberalism or neoclassical liberalism, refers to a revival of economic liberalism during 1970s. based on the concept of “night-watchman state” and reduced state intervention. However, in the 21st century, especially after 2008 Global financial crisis, there has been a debate regarding the decline of neoliberalism.

The hegemony of neoliberalism has been seen in the countries like USA, UK in the form of Reaganism and Thatcherism respectively. Even the advent of globalization and its transfer to other nations has been an overwhelming factor to bring the notion of night watchman state.

But, various factors have started its decline due to community, culture and nation:

Decline due to community: 

1. As per the communitarian view, the liberal policies have their limits as they target the individualistic aspect and not the community as a whole. Due to import of such policies and ideas to the Non-Western world, we are experiencing a retreat to tribalism and identity groups, based on religious, ethnic, or other cultural affiliations. For eg. Middle Eastern Crisis, recent Iran protests over the Hijab issue, etc. 
2. According to Marxists like Thomas Pikkety, Immanuel Wallerstein, there is a rise of inequality in the society leading to socio-economic divisions as seen from the theories like World Systems Theory that the capitalists negatively harm the societies through their parochial economic and capital decisions in the sense of distribution of wealth. 
3. The another problem is that neoliberals on right and left sometimes use identity as a shield to protect neoliberal policies. Due to this, there has been a rise of social movements in various countries like the Yellow Vest Movement in France.

Decline due to culture:

1. The increasing wave of highly religious movements like the Arab Spring of 2013, increasing ethnic and cultural debates like the Asian Values in the ASEAN countries are examples of cultural and ethnic throwback to neoliberal ideas. 
2. Clash of civilizations or cultures- As against Francis Fukuyama’s End of History and End of Ideology Thesis, the critics like Mahathir Mohammed claims that Western cultural values not suitable for Asian societies. The cultural outburst to western liberal values has led to bringing a cultural revivalist outlook. 

Even Samuel P. Huntington has argued that future wars would be fought not between countries, but between cultures, thereby putting question on the legitimacy of neo-liberal policies, as the trends of global conflict after the end of the Cold War.

Decline due to nation:

1. The Washington consensus of 1989 has started showing its limits in countries like UK (Thacherism), US (Reaganism), etc where we see the negative effects of neoliberal policies in the form of rising social movements based on cultural notions like recent Spain’s nationalist Catalonian issue. 
2. Neoliberalism’s comment of equations of society (individualism) and moving towards less state intervention (bringing privatization and marketization) indirectly facilitates a retreat into tribalism, ie. a revolt by social orthodox elements which undermines the preconditions for a free and democratic society in the form of rising elements of terrorism, fundamentalist movements etc. 
3. Rising authoritarian states –has shown us that the neoliberal policies go against its own prescribed free market forces, as seen in the events like BREXIT, COVID-19 pandemic. Concepts like America First shows the negative fallouts of neoliberalism. The rising restrictions made by nation states post COVID and the rising events of anti-globalization and de-globalization due to rise of regionalistic tendencies like USMCA, RCEP, condition of states like Iran, Afghanistan, etc also shows the failure of neoliberalism. 

However, still neoliberal market fundamentalism and Washington crisis holds hope. It has led to rise of democratic institutions, collaborate efforts to fight social and economic issues like that of the Climate Change talks.

Though the need is to bring more broad based reforms as seen from the efforts like New International Economic Order, reforming institutions like WTO, etc. to make the neoliberal ideas more comprehensive and acceptable bringing more than market competition, free trade, etc.