Image: Tamara GoliathA seminar was held to launch Neoliberalism, Democratic Erosion And The Global Struggle For Social Justice, a book that explores the growing tension between market-driven economic systems and democratic governance. Bringing together leading scholars, the book argues that neoliberalism is not a natural or unavoidable outcome, but a set of ideas and policies that shape how power is exercised. It shows how governments have shifted from protecting social welfare to promoting market interests, and how this has increased inequality and weakened democratic participation. At the same time, the book points to new possibilities for rebuilding democracy amid global uncertainty.
An introduction to the publisher African Minds was given by the author, Francois Van Schalkwyk, who reflected on the role of independent academic publishing in advancing scholarship that interrogates dominant paradigms. He emphasised the importance of disseminating research that challenges neoliberal orthodoxies and contributes to public debate.
The conceptual framing of the seminar around the overarching title, named Neoliberalism, Democratic Erosion and the Global Struggle for Social Justice, was provided by author and editor, Chris Tapscott and Tor Halvorsen, who introduced the volume’s central argument: that neoliberalism and authoritarianism constitute a dual threat to democratic governance. They argued that neoliberalism should be understood not as an inevitable economic trajectory but as a constructed ideological project that reshapes the state from a social regulator into a market broker. This transformation, they suggested, facilitates democratic erosion through governance, juridification and digital forms of control.
The discussion then turned to education policy, with the authors of chapter four, Katherina Sass and Sarah-Kristin Aga, presenting on marketisation and competition in the Norwegian school system. Their analysis demonstrated how neoliberal policy instruments reconfigure schooling as a quasi-market, with implications for equity and democratic socialisation.
Some of the book's authors. Image: Tamara GoliathAuthors of chapters five and six, Martin Kronauer and Alf Gunvald Nilsen, also discussed the rise of authoritarian populism in both the global North and South. Their contributions traced how economic insecurity, social fragmentation and declining trust in political institutions have enabled populist movements to mobilise resentment and consolidate power. Ari Sitas responded by situating these developments within longer histories of exclusion and struggle, cautioning that democratic decline often proceeds through normalised practices rather than overt ruptures.
Attention then shifted to collective agency. Authors of chapters two and nine, John Higgins and Ole Johnny Olsen, focused on labour, trade unions and student movements as foundational actors in democratic struggles. Their intervention foregrounded the historical role of organised social forces in expanding political rights and resisting commodification. The global dimension of the crisis was addressed by Tom Skauge, who analysed the weakening of multilateralism and the challenges facing the United Nations and the Sustainable Development Goals in an era of geopolitical rivalry and declining solidarity.
The final discussion engaged participants in a critical interrogation of the book’s core propositions: whether democratic erosion can be reversed, how neoliberal rationalities are reproduced, and where possibilities for renewal might be located. The launch thus functioned not merely as a ceremonial event, but as an extension of the book’s analytical project - a collective exercise in diagnosing the contemporary crisis of democracy and identifying openings for social justice-oriented alternatives.
The speakers are providing snippets of their chapter in the book. Images: Tamara Goliath
