Atlas multinationalized its ideology through translated web platforms capturing talent
Evidence
In 2009, the Cato Institute transferred its internationalization service to Atlas. Tom Palmer, from Cato, became Vice-President for International Programs at Atlas, absorbing the discovery arm of the IFC. Palmer soon became the symbolic figure of Atlas’s missionary and discovery activities. He worked with a team of native speakers (in a dozen languages) and deployed an outreach and discovery strategy for challenging regions. Classic texts were translated and distributed and new material produced and shared through web platforms tailored for a given language. The platforms also organized essay contests and relayed information on initiatives like Freedom Schools or university tours. This online strategy implied “aggressive branding and integration of programs around a website.” — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 567
Categorization
- SEED: The missionary language (‘scout for intellectual entrepreneurs’, ‘freedom fighters’) plus digital platform branding is a ready-made case study on how ideological networks globalize.
- XREF: connects to: Atlas funded translations of liberal classics to spread free-market principles — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 584; The Atlas network co-produces and co-diffuses free market content across borders — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 597; Atlas systematically recruited and trained global think tank entrepreneurs — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 566 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- Atlas Foundation exported the neoliberal think-tank model worldwide
#expands(0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1943 - Skilled migrants carry cultural values and stimulate change in monocultural countries
#expands(0.78) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3879 - Atlas incubated think tanks by identifying and financing local individuals
#expands(0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 572 - Web 2.0 culture promotes a neoliberal identity that is constructible and improvable.
#expands(0.72) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 495