THIS IS EXACTLY BACKWARDS:

In the age of neoliberalism, all competing social spheres are being  gradually colonized by the market mentality.

And this serves to explain neoliberalism at the policy level. Neoliberal thinkers believe that the market mentality--which receives its most sophisticated treatment in the language of economics--should reign supreme. Thus, they talk of a political market, a marriage market and a religious market, for, in their view, these sites of social life are fundamentally identical, insofar as they all feature individuals operating as rational maximizers and espousing the market mentality. [...]

This cultural definition of neoliberalism--as the colonization of the market mentality--serves to highlight both why the left is correct to worry about neoliberalism and why the term is so often applied haphazardly.

If we accept that what makes neoliberalism distinct is less its content--the market mentality has been a staple of capitalism since its inception--than the degree to which it expands the scope of the cultural logic of capitalism, then identifying precisely what is and isn't neoliberal can never be an exact science. Yet this should not disguise the fact that sweeping change is already underway.

Signs of neoliberal policy are evident across liberal democracies and have been for some time. But the real transformation is taking place at the level of consciousness. Unless we become aware of and reverse the trend, we will soon wake up to find that the sole language we have to describe our relationships, our dreams and the world around us is that of economics. And, I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like a nightmare.

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