2. Whilst in some circles neoliberalism
may be a familiar term, Google
Trends, and cartoons like the one of
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
(Image 1), infer that Australians
(and Americans and British) are
more interested in communism and
socialism, than with neoliberalism,
and may in fact, not really know
what neoliberalism is.
Google Trends - Australia
Google Trends - Worldwide
3. It is difficult to know what
causes the lack of interest,
but perhaps it is linked to the
lack of understanding so
well demonstrated by First
Dog on the Moon who notes
here that “nobody really
understands it”.
Image 2
4. If we look at the associations
that Google searchers are
making with different
political/economy/market
systems
wesee‘bad’ and ‘poverty’
moreoften linked with
communism and socialism
than with neoliberalism.
4
So what doestheworld think?
GoogleTrends- ‘[term] and poverty’
GoogleTrends- ‘[term] bad’
5. In fact, we can see that the question ‘is neoliberalism bad’ doesn’t return enough
results to even be graphed, whereas the same question for socialism and communism
consistently rank.
Does this mean that neoliberalism is a
fantasy (or nightmare) of the left, or
does it reflect (1) a general lack of
awareness, or (2) such a deep
understanding that looking it up on
Google is unnecessary? The latter
seems unlikely (and this position is
supported by Image 1 and Image 2),
and given that David Harvey (2007)
calls neoliberalism ‘creative
destruction’, a quick look at this
system is perhaps timely.
5
(…another graph)
GoogleTrends- ‘is[term] bad’
6. The role of government in
neoliberal ideology is to:
create and support the growth of a
free market, safe in the knowledge
that the market is always right, is
self balancing, and available to
everyone. Once the market and
supporting infrastructure have been
set up, the government should
extricate itself from the market
(note: this may be a little simplistic,
for a more detailed description see
David Harvey 2007 p. 22-23).
6
Image3
7. There is some debate whether Australia can really be called a neoliberal state. For instance, Alan
Fenna and Alan Tapper claim that the Australian welfare state “is alive and well” and that talk of
neoliberalism is simply political rhetoric (2012, p. 170). However, the privatization of many of
Australia’s publicly held services since the 1990s, electricity, telephone, and water, to name a few
(and soon Medibank), is very much in line with neoliberal ideology.
In addition, inequality has grown significantly in Australia (and the United Kingdom
and the United States of America) “over the past 20-30 years” (Wade, 2004 p. 578)
whilst neoliberal policies have been implemented. This inequality has not gone
unnoticed by some Australians, particularly by leftist cartoonists.
7
Image4
Image5
8. However, whilst there is significant academic
literature on neoliberalism (see Henry Giroux’s
many works, Harvey, Wade, and Fenna and Tapper
to begin with), the debate tends to remain largely
the domain of academics and left leaning (i.e. not
mainstream) commentators.
8
9. Indeed, it would be difficult to
imagine ‘infographics' such as Image
6 (which is self professedly ‘angry’
and from the left) appearing in The
Australian, that is more likely to
publish the cartoons like Image 7, and
other Bill Leak creations.
Whilst the benefits or otherwise of
neoliberalism, or even neoliberalism as a
concept, remain low on the public debate
agenda, there is arguably little chance that the
Australian public will be in a position to
meaningfully engage in political discourse and
action, or to decide whether neoliberalism is a
system they wish to support.
9
Image6
Image7
10. References
Fenna, A., & Tapper, A. (2012). The Australian Welfare State and the
Neoliberalism Thesis. Australian Journal of Political Science, 47(2),
155-172. doi:10.1080/10361146.2012.677007
Harvey, D. (2007). Neoliberalism as Creative Destruction. Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science, 610, 22-44.
Wade, R. H. (2004). Is Globalization Reducing Poverty and Inequality?
World Development, 32(4), 567-589. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.
2003.10.007
10
11. Notesand URLs
• All GoogleTrendsgraphswereproduced at www.google.com/ trendson 23 May 2014
• Image1. Unknown. New.com. http:/ / resources3.news.com.au/ images/
2012/ 11/ 27/ 1226525/ 175939-121128he-kudelka-cartoon.jpg Accessed 14 April 2014
• Image2. First Dog on theMoon. http:/ / firstdogonthemoon.com.au/ jun2011/ Accessed 13
April 2014
• Image3. Unknown. http:/ / www.nickthorkelson.com/ neolibintro.html Accessed 15 April 2014
• Image4. Original Artist Unknown. http:/ / 3.bp.blogspot.com/ -y8ps-WLSCzg/
UMdFWPqokCI/ AAAAAAAAnFc/ DXgdOI0nkQs/ s400/ 01-social-spending-cuts-cartoon.jpg
Accessed 13 April 2014
• Image5. Original Artist Unknown http:/ / www.independentaustralia.net/ politics/ politics-
display/ countering-neoliberalism-a-new-life-for-labor,6263 Accessed 15 April 2014
• Image6. Unknown. http:/ / stopmakingsense.org/ category/ media/ imagescartoons/ page/ 2/
Accessed 15 April 2014
• Image7. Bill Leak. TheAustralian. http:/ / www.sauer-thompson.com/ junkforcode/ archives/
2012/ 01/ Accessed 14 April 2014
11
