This work investigates the origins, implementation, and global consequences of neoliberalism as a political and economic project. David Harvey, a distinguished professor of anthropology and geography, utilizes a materialist framework to trace how neoliberal policies were constructed and disseminated from the 1970s onward. He argues that neoliberalism is not merely an economic theory but a mechanism for restoring class power to economic elites through the privatization of public assets and the deregulation of markets.

Scholars and critics frequently cite this text as a foundational critique of contemporary global economic structures. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which requires a baseline understanding of Marxist political economy to fully grasp the author's arguments.