Abstract
Neoliberalism was conceived through a long process from multiple poles of irradiation, both domestic and foreign. It became a hegemonic discourse, colonizing the main disseminators of economic ideas and executors of public policy. While neoliberalism has roots in extensive areas of the planet, in this article we focus on three key moments of the Brazilian case. The first, consists of the early days of neoliberalism, around the 1964 coup d’Etat, especially the actions of the Institute for Research and Social Studies (IPES), which produced much of the ideological platform of the dictatorship and led the first stage of reforms; then, in 1978, with the Group of Eight which represented a momentary rejection of such ideas; and finally, in the eighties and nineties, through the activity of Liberal Institutes, when neoliberalism reached its most classic stage. Through this analysis we observe that the Brazilian case was characterized by common aspects of the general process as well as some peculiarities, due to its own economic, social, and political specifics.