Cold War anticommunism and colonial economics stunted early neoliberal development thinking
Evidence
Upon closer inspection, it appears that earlier neoliberal scholars had been severely hampered in aligning their perspectives on development issues owing, first, to a sometimes hysterical anticommunism prevailing during the 1950s. As a consequence, many members of the emerging neoliberal camp relegated questions of development economics to second place behind international security concerns. Second, a strong commitment to colonial economics explains the dominance of conservative intellectual baggage over future-oriented neoliberal perspectives, which can be easily detected in the works of many early members of the neoliberal network. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1267
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the wider argument elsewhere in the volume that Cold War geopolitics shaped the MPS network’s priorities. — connects to: Early neoliberals depicted civilization as indistinguishably moral, racial and economic — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 63; Cold War polarization radicalized French neoliberalism and narrowed its earlier cross-class audience. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 273; Neoliberal economists inverted colonial extraction into a source of Third World progress — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 401 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- Early neoliberal development theory echoed colonial assumptions about non-Western peoples
#corroborates(0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1290 - Early neoliberal development economics reproduced colonial division of labor while anticipating export-oriented trade strategies
#corroborates(0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1282 - Cold War superpower rivalry distorted the development of postcolonial states
#corroborates(0.70) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 1203