After neoliberalization?

We argue that a rigorously defined concept of neoliberalization can help illuminate the regulatory transformations of our time, and their multiscalar, variegated and rapidly mutating geographies. We begin with a series of definitional clarifications that underpin our conceptualization of neoliberalization. On this basis, we distinguish its three major dimensions (1) regulatory experimentation; (2) inter-jurisdictional policy transfer; and (3) the formation of transnational rule-regimes. Such distinctions form the basis for a schematic periodization of how neoliberalization processes have been extended and entrenched across the world economy. These considerations generate an analytical perspective from which to explore several scenarios for counter-neoliberalizing forms of regulatory restructuring within contemporary and future configurations of capitalism. For purposes of this discussion, we do not offer a detailed account of the contemporary global economic crisis or its medium- or long-term implications. Instead, this analysis is intended to serve a meta-theoretical purpose - namely, to stimulate further debate regarding the appropriate analytical framework through which to approach the regulatory dimensions of such questions.