Pluralism, neo-liberalism and the ‘all-knowing’ state

This article focuses on a left-libertarian response to neo-liberalism that emerged in the 1990s. In particular, it examines the work of Hilary Wainwright, founding editor of Red Pepper magazine. To Wainwright, the popularity and resurgence of a ‘neo-liberal’ or ‘new’ right could, in part, be explained by its libertarian and anti-statist outlook—themes, she argued, that had been neglected by the left. Wainwright used the arguments of the right-wing thinker Friedrich Hayek as a springboard for her own, very different, arguments for a left-libertarian, movement-based form of participatory democracy. There are parallels in her work with older, pluralist arguments. However, Wainwright's pluralism faces many of the same challenges—particularly concerning the relationship between group and state—that earlier pluralist thinkers struggled to resolve.