Early neoliberalism included lawyers, industrialists, and bankers, not just economists.

Evidence

Existing histories of neoliberalism have either struggled to explain the composition of the WLC or focused on a handful of participants, usually the better-known intellectuals and economists. Yet what about the others? What about José Castillejo, a Spanish lawyer? What about a group of French industrialists, bankers, and young scholars like Etienne Mantoux and Robert Marjolin, the latter known for his spell at the OEEC and the European Commission, but less for his neoliberalism? Unable to account for the presence of most participants, existing histories either ignore or simply enumerate them. But if the Agenda of Liberalism represents early neoliberalism, then who were all the other participants besides the well-known protagonists? Were they not neoliberals? After all, they all agreed on the same agenda. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 367

Categorization

• QUESTION: The presence of French industrialists and young civil servants like Marjolin raises questions about the industry-technocracy channel into early neoliberal doctrine worth tracing.
• SEED: Angle: ‘the forgotten members of the neoliberal thought collective’ — who the non-economist participants were and what their agreement reveals about early neoliberalism’s actual sociology.
• XREF: connects to: Neoliberalism’s doctrine was shaped from its start by business patrons — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 87; Foundation funding and private research work shaped early neoliberal career paths — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 101; Neoliberalism emerged from practical business advocacy, not abstract theory — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 119 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism’s doctrine was shaped from its start by business patrons #expands (0.90) — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists, 87
• Anti-New Deal businessmen funded and networked early neoliberalism, contradicting the marginality myth #expands (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1439
• Neoliberalism emerged from practical business advocacy, not abstract theory #expands (0.85) — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists, 119
• Foundation funding and private research work shaped early neoliberal career paths #expands (0.82) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 101