Paul M. Renfro is an assistant professor of history at Florida State University and the author of Stranger Danger: Family Values, Childhood, and the American Carceral State.
It’s common to credit President Ronald Reagan for ushering in the age of neoliberalism. But doing so suggests that neoliberalism is primarily a right-wing project, obscuring the important role of liberals in subordinating society to free markets.
From Rush Limbaugh to Pat Robertson, the most vitriolic and morally panicked conservative figures of the 1990s contributed just as much to modern American conservatism as Ronald Reagan did.
The United States’ hyper-punitive approach to sexual offenders has fueled mass incarceration while doing little to actually help survivors.
Pete Buttigieg is this election’s poster child for “progressive neoliberalism” — offering up platitudes about diversity while leaving untouched the very structures that oppress people. It’s time we left this kind of politics in the past.