On Exactitude in Social Science: A Multidimensional Proposal for Investigating Articulated Neoliberalization and its ‘Alternatives'

This article proposes an innovative analytical framework for investigating processes of neoliberalization and its articulation with ‘alternative’ governance arrangements. It is by now well-established that neoliberalism is a variegated processthat manifests differently in diverse contexts. Yet how to actually conceptualize and investigate this variegation remains unclear: we lack a comparative framework for analyzing how different dimensions of neoliberalization manifest within a given context as well as how these articulate with non-neoliberal modes of governance. To address this lacuna, the framework proposed here begins with a multidimensional understanding of neoliberalization as comprising an overarching philosophy, a set of general principlesthrough which this philosophy is expressed, the specific policiesvia which these principles are implemented and the forms of subjectivityall of this seeks to cultivate. It then integrates an approach to distinguishing ‘multiple governmentalities’ derived from recently published work by Michel Foucault to understand neoliberalism as a particular governmentality that may articulate with others. To complete the ensemble, it draws on ‘diverse economies’ perspectives pioneered by J.K. Gibson-Graham to assess the relationship between particular governance strategies and on-the-ground practices. The resulting synthetic framework affords multidimensional investigation of the complex ways that different elements of neoliberalization may articulate with distinct forms of governance in both planners’ visions and concrete execution by practitioners. Its utility is illustrated through a case study of Costa Rica’s payment for environmental services(PES) program, which exbibits a complex form of articulated neoliberalization in practice.