A US-funded network coordinates free-market activism globally like an ideological International
Evidence
Brazilian academic Camila Rocha, who has traced the rise of free-market think tanks in the country, calls the Atlas Network a kind of “neoliberal Comintern,” likening the pro-business super-NGO to the Communist International, as it funds and coordinates organizations that promote its own very different ideology across the world. — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 417
Categorization
- DEFINE: The ‘neoliberal Comintern’ coinage captures the global coordinating function of the Atlas Network in an instantly memorable way.
- CANDY: An Atlas Network described as a ‘neoliberal Comintern’ is a neat elevator zinger.
- XREF: connects to: Transnational activist networks influence global discourse without seeking formal institutional power — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice:…, 720; A US-funded think tank network spread free-market ideology into Brazil’s protests. — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and…, 417; Global structures enabled ideological community for marginalized intellectual movements — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 147 (+13 more)
Broader Connections
- The Atlas network co-produces and co-diffuses free market content across borders
#exemplifies(0.97) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 597 - A US-funded think tank network spread free-market ideology into Brazil’s protests.
#exemplifies(0.95) — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 417 - Neoliberalism’s spread depended on transnational discourse networks rather than national institutions alone
#corroborates(0.94) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2118 - Neoliberal ‘spontaneous order’ rhetoric masked deliberately orchestrated institutional networks
#corroborates(0.93) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2114 - Neoliberalism rose to hegemony through transnational networks of scholars and allies
#corroborates(0.92) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 81 - US democracy-endowment funds seeded Neoliberal advocacy in the developing world
#corroborates(0.91) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1949 - Mont Pelerin Society networks seeded think tanks across Latin America
#exemplifies(0.90) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 561 - A well-funded network of professional Islamophobes drives anti-Muslim activism in America
#corroborates(0.85) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 446 - Organized funding sustains professional anti-Muslim propaganda networks in the US
#corroborates(0.83) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 29 - A transnational counter-jihad network moves ideas, people, and money between the US and Europe
#corroborates(0.82) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 648 - Transnational activist networks influence global discourse without seeking formal institutional power
#expands(0.78) — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 720 - Global structures enabled ideological community for marginalized intellectual movements
#expands(0.75) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 147 - Ideological movements can mobilize global volunteers and territory far beyond material resources
#expands(0.74) — Scott Atran, The Devoted Actor, 80 - Capitalist circuits can produce internationalism that mimics the Left’s
#expands(0.73) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 74 - Web 2.0 ideology fuses Silicon Valley capitalism with countercultural activism while embracing capitalism
#qualifies(0.72) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 55