The aim of the paper is to discuss the social consensus for neoliberal policies. It begins by pointing out that, despite their shortcomings - financial and output instability, divergent income distribution and precariousness in employment and living conditions - an extensive social and voting consensus supports them. Accounts for this paradox generally focus either on the irrational behavior of voters or on the prevailing role of propaganda and of inadequate or biased information.

The next section suggests that, while these circumstances may be important, they do not provide an exhaustive account. The suggested approach is based on the notions of personal and social identity. People are not monolithic. They have different identities, which depend on external circumstances – the social and cultural environment they are a part of – and on individual choices. Although individuals pursue a unitary and coherent view of themselves, it is unlikely that the resulting personal identity meets this requirement. What an individual chooses to do and to be may be undermined by changes in the external environment, which lie beyond her control.

The subsequent section discusses how neoliberal policies establish an economic environment that emphasizes individual action and downplays collective action. This puts pressure on people to adapt their behavior to this specific context, to revise their previous views of the economy and, especially, to revise their choices of what to do. The new rules of the game imply that failure to achieve one’s goals depends less on collective action than on individual dedication. They require less reliance on, and confidence in, collective agents, such as unions, and greater care for individual economic interests. It implies a revision of one’s social identity – how an individual relates to others – and, consequently, of one’s personal identity. The implication is that neoliberal policies have established not only a self-reinforcing consensus but a full-fledged hegemony.

The conclusion the discussion leads to is twofold. First, economic policy feeds back on the economic, social and cultural structures. It is therefore doubtful that it can be conceived of as a mere deduction from economic theory, to the neglect of these other structural elements. Second, because of this interdependence, attempts to contrast neoliberalism should focus less on the internal inconsistencies of its underlying theories than on the overall political project that it pursues.