Atlas pivoted from attacking universities to funding free-market courses within them

Evidence

Initially, Atlas scorned universities as “ideological monopolies of the Left.” Vocal in its contempt, it constructed itself as an alternative to academia, contributing to “un-politicized” public policy “based on sound science.” The realization, however, that “many cultures of the world [had] not yet fully embraced the think tank model” imposed a pragmatic reorientation. A key actor here was Leonard Liggio, law professor at George Mason, and veteran of the Institute of Humane Studies, who joined Atlas in 1994. In 1999, the John Templeton Foundation gave Liggio and Atlas a grant to target academia. The International Freedom Project (IFP) financed through this grant aimed at planting “seeds of truth” in academia outside North America. The plan was to fund university professors (ranging from 10,000 to 40,000) to develop free market courses and invite prominent guest lecturers. Between 1999 and 2002, Atlas funded sixty-eight courses in twenty-seven countries, an estimated 1,500 students being reached. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 568

Categorization

• QUESTION: The pivot from dismissing academia as ‘ideological monopolies of the Left’ to planting professors inside it is a strategic reversal worth tracing across other Atlas programs.
• XREF: Connects to the Colombia/Mont Pelerin history of think tanks and the broader literature on how policy networks seeded economics departments. — connects to: The Atlas network shifted from celebrating outsider status to pursuing academic legitimacy — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 603; Atlas once cultivated academia before abandoning it for direct student outreach — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 569; Atlas funded translations of liberal classics to spread free-market principles — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 584

Broader Connections

• Atlas once cultivated academia before abandoning it for direct student outreach #expands (0.85) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 569
• Atlas funded translations of liberal classics to spread free-market principles #exemplifies (0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 584