Early MPS neoliberals rejected universal industrialization in favor of local diversity.

Evidence

Neoliberals insisted on the “diversity” of developing countries, objected to industrialization as a universal solution, and displayed an appreciation for frequently neglected issues of agriculture and traditional production … It was not the interest in sociology and institutions that separated Röpke and, say, Myrdal, but rather different varieties of sociology and institutional perspectives alongside a different normative and epistemological understanding of economics. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1291

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the ‘Grafting & Growth’ article’s motif of traditional/local production and to broader debates distinguishing neoliberal from structuralist development economics (Myrdal contrast). — connects to: Early MPS members feared capitalism eroded rural life and social bonds — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 293; MPS members rejected laissez-faire while insisting neoliberal principles suited underdeveloped countries — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1279
• DEFINE: Clarifies what distinguished Röpke from Myrdal: not institutional interest per se, but different institutional varieties and epistemologies.