Neoliberalizm w Europie Środkowej – magia, religia czy nauka?
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Date
2013
Authors
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Journal Title
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Publisher
Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM
Title alternative
Neoliberalism in Central Europe: Is It Magic, Religion or Science?
Abstract
Expansion of capitalism to former communist countries was presented, especially by many
intellectuals, as a scientific endeavor based on rational choice theory, management techniques
and precisely measured market forces. For many practitioners of ‘transformation’ the
neo-liberal project became also similar to proselytizing religion that has to be spread among
infidels, i.e. communism-ridden populations. In the process of applying supposedly scientific
principles for missionary purposes, many mechanisms identified by anthropologists as magic
were used. The same modes of thinking apply to the explanations of reform failures. In
magical thinking symbols are treated as signs; in a supposedly cause-and-effect chain of
events a symbolic element is instantiated and the status of this symbol is perceived as
equivalent to the empirical constituents. Symbolic factors, distinguished as such in an analytical
process, have the same power of affecting reality as the physically perceptible factors.
Communism was often blamed for using magical tricks, particularly in the domain of magical
power of words. Words, through their symbolic power, were supposed to excuse for
failures in practical domains. In the notions describing advantages and shortcomings of the
neoliberal system such unspecified elements can also be identified. In conclusion one can
say that neo-liberalism is a science, but only for its believers who in their reasoning apply
magical modes of thinking.
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Keywords
neoliberalism, communism, magic, religion, science
Citation
Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne, 2013, nr 4, s.29–41
ISBN
978-83-232-2525-6