The Origins of Neoliberalism: Modeling the Economy from Jesus to Foucault

(Marx & Philosophy Review of Books)This exceptionally learned book will deservedly cause a stir among students of political and economic theology. (Adam Kotsko An und für sich)Leshem has written a detailed account of the thought of late antiquity that will be of interest for anyone who has followed recent debates in politics, economics and theology through Foucault and Agamben as well as those interested in the conceptual origins of neoliberalism. (Gil Anidjar, author of Blood: A Critique of Christianity)The Origins of Neoliberalism demonstrates that histories of economic thought can no longer ignore pre-modernity and that political economy owes more to theological rationality than its modern exponents are willing to avow. Its consistency, erudition, and relevance for contemporary research into the 'theological' genealogy of economy and governme

. Dotan Leshem is senior lecturer in the department of government and political theory at the School of Political Sciences, University of Haifa

Only by relocating the origins of modernity in Late Antiquity, Leshem argues, can we confront the full effect of the neoliberal marketized economy on contemporary societies. He consults exegetical and apologetic tracts, homilies and eulogies, manuals and correspondence, and Church canons and creeds to trace the influence of the economy on Christian orthodoxy. He begins with early Christian treatment of economic knowledge and the effect of this interaction on ancient politics and philosophy. He then follows the secularization of the economy in liberal and neoliberal theory.Leshem draws on Hannah Arendt's history of politics and Michel Foucault's genealogy of economy and philosophy. Dotan Leshem recasts the history of the West from an economic perspective, bringing politics, philosophy, and the economy closer together and revealing the significant role of Christian theology in shaping economic and political thought. Then, he proposes, a new political philosophy that re-secularizes the economy will take shape and transform the human condition.