Conservative ideas formed through cross-national networks and institutional contexts, not isolated biography.

Evidence

This book provides both a contribution to this developing literature and an implicit revision. It takes the detailed analysis of conservative ideas out of the realm of intellectual biography, where it has largely remained, and situates the major fi gures in dialogue with one another. By focusing on networks and pro cesses of intellectual exchange, it devotes substantial attention to institutional context without inferring that the environment exerts hegemonic force over the generation and propagation of ideas. And it abandons the close observance of national boundaries that has continued to defi ne the pa ram e ters of research into the origins of the conservative movement. The result is a narrative that examines how its central fi gures developed, explained, and justifi ed their beliefs; how they alternately infl uenced and opposed one another’s opinions; how they navigated the perilous relationship between politics and philosophy; and how, over time, their assumptions and arguments discreetly but decisively transformed. It approaches ideas neither as abstractions that unfold in a realm wholly distinct from politics nor as mere tools that are invoked to engender a desired change. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 27

Categorization

• DEFINE: Burgin defines his methodological stance: networks as explanatory lens that neither grants the environment hegemony nor treats ideas in isolation.
• XREF: connects to: Neoliberal network activity blurred boundaries between national schools of thought — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 559; Networked mutual influence, not heroic individuals, explains neoliberal thought formation — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 13; Neoliberalism rose to hegemony through transnational networks of scholars and allies — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 81 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Networked mutual influence, not heroic individuals, explains neoliberal thought formation #corroborates (0.95) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 13
• Neoliberal network activity blurred boundaries between national schools of thought #corroborates (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 559
• Neoliberalism’s spread depended on transnational discourse networks rather than national institutions alone #corroborates (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2118
• Neoliberalism’s core concepts formed in the 1930s through networked institutions #corroborates (0.90) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 352
• Neoliberalism rose to hegemony through transnational networks of scholars and allies #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 81
• Global structures enabled ideological community for marginalized intellectual movements #corroborates (0.80) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 147
• Neoliberal intellectuals formed a thought collective as a unit #corroborates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 10
• Conservative foundations funded unorthodox ideas decades before the think tank boom #qualifies (0.75) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 322