Imagining Crises of Neoliberalism: Covid-19 Pandemic and (Im)Possibilities of Change in Turkey’s Labour Regime

Abstract

This study critically engages with the ‘end of neoliberalism’ debates which have peaked following the globally detrimental impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The paper suggests that crises of the pandemic predetermine neither the end of neoliberalism nor its regeneration. It is argued that ‘death or resurrection’ of neoliberalism is conditioned in the ways through which subjects experience ongoing crises and translate them into particular actions. On that basis, the paper focuses on Turkey’s labour regime under pandemic conditions to reveal how the imaginings and political practices of the Turkish state, companies, and (self-employed courier) workers regenerate the enduring principles of neoliberalism – including (global) market competitiveness, deregulation, labour market flexibility, economic individualism, and status-seeking – even in moments of crises. The paper concludes with a brief discussion on the emerging visibility of alternative modes of practices, which potentially involve new possibilities to mobilise towards post-neoliberal politics under crisis-ridden pandemic conditions.

COVID-19 and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program in Puerto Rico: Anti-Corruption, Fraud Prevention, and Punishment

“… 18. There has been an important debate on whether the COVID-19 crisis will mean the end of neoliberalism as we know it (Damar, 2023; Kiliç, 2021; Paulsson and Koglin, 2023; Saad-Filho, 2020). The consensus tends to indicate that we are experiencing a radical transformation in which socio-economic relations have been redefined, without necessarily putting an end to neoliberalism. …”