Early neoliberal development theory echoed colonial assumptions about non-Western peoples

Evidence

At this point the MPS group displayed an understanding of development economics that still uncomfortably resembled traditional colonial economics underpinned by Victorian anthropology: According to Benham, people lacked the propensity to save, and according to Röpke, there was a lack not only of entrepreneurs, but also of a class and the spiritual-moral preconditions that could eventually generate entrepreneurs. Advancing industrialization strategies thus were considered ill-conceived strategies for various reasons, pursued by a dangerous—Jekyll and Hyde like—alliance of Western socialists and government elites in the developing world. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1290

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The genealogical link between postwar liberal-market development theory and colonial-era anthropology is a dense, uncomfortable insight that reframes the moral standing of the whole MPS project.
• XREF: Parallels Edward Said’s argument about Western knowledge production serving colonial power, and Foucault on power-knowledge. — connects to: Early neoliberals depicted civilization as indistinguishably moral, racial and economic — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 63; Neoliberal intellectuals saw Bandung as a resource against Western colonialism — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 275; Neoliberals traced postcolonial authoritarianism to the colonial planning they inherited — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 240 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Colonialist justifications recur largely unchanged in post-war development discourse #expands (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1590
• Classical Marxism treated capitalist colonialism as historically necessary for non-Western development #qualifies (0.75) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 681
• Marx saw colonialism as freeing non-Western societies from confining arrangements #qualifies (0.72) — David Theo Goldberg, The Racial State, 32