This article develops a theoretical and methodological critique of recent scholarly work that seeks to understand, from a Neo-Marxist perspective, the impact of neoliberal agendas and ideas in the field of social policy-making in Brazil. We argue that the so-called "critical thinking" that has developed in social policy studies, despite being extremely influential among both graduate students and professors, suffers from serious analytical shortcomings. first, this literature often relies on an excessively broad and imprecise definition of neoliberalism that has little if any explanatory power. Second, we argue that these approaches are unable to adequately explain and interpret the role of cognitive processes, values and ideas in the policy process and, hence, they fail to present a convincing depiction of the impact of neoliberalism on the social policy sector. Third, the criteria employed to classify specific public policies as "neoliberal" are unspecified and lacking in empirical support, which undermines oft-made arguments on the "hegemony" of neoliberal thinking in fields such as education, health and social security. We conclude by presenting, as a promising theoretical alternative to the study of neoliberal agendas and reforms, the recent literature on the role of ideas and knowledge in the policy process.