A set of philosophies and discourses emphasizing the importance of free markets to development and prosperity, neoliberalism emerged as the guiding rationale for a wide range of responses to declining levels of economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s. A term used largely by its critics, neoliberal philosophies combine elements of classical liberalism with those of social conservatism. This entry reviews the central concepts of neoliberal-ism and its evolution in the global North and South; examines the neoliberal perspective on relationships between the state, markets, and civil society more generally; and describes criticisms that have been directed at neoliberalism, particularly with respect to its impact on the poor.