Early neoliberals shared Polanyi’s conviction that economies must be embedded

Evidence

Despite later characterizations of Karl Polanyi and neoliberals as ideological and methodological opposites, the institutional focus of early neoliberals even suggested the embedding of the economy in a sense reminiscent of Polanyi. Of course, Karl Polanyi argued for different forms of embedding, and early neoliberals were clearly in favor of retaining land, labor, and capital as commodities (the root cause of capitalism’s crisis according to Polanyi), but they were also acutely aware that nation-states were here to stay and that national economies had to be embedded politically and socially to fit in with other national economies on a global economic playing field. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 403

Categorization

• XREF: Directly connects to Polanyi’s The Great Transformation and the embeddedness debate — a classic juxtaposition normally drawn as pure opposition. — connects to: Two rival readings of Polanyi’s double movement differ on reform versus revolution; Early neoliberals prefigured Polanyi by demanding the economy be re-embedded in society. — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 286; Early European neoliberals privileged economic over political freedom — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 188 (+7 more)
• SEED: Article angle: how the standard Polanyi-vs-neoliberal dichotomy obscures their shared premise that economies require deliberate political embedding.

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism pivoted from the economy to the framework encasing it #expands (0.80) — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists, 88
• Mont Pèlerin neoliberalism framed market economy as governed by an elite citizenry’s social conscience #expands (0.78) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1306
• Early European neoliberals privileged economic over political freedom #complicates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 188
• Early neoliberalism allowed state intervention alongside price mechanisms, even tariffs #qualifies (0.72) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 389
• Leading neoliberals defended restricting political freedom to preserve economic freedom #complicates (0.72) — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists, 500
• Neoliberalism advanced a political, not merely economic, case for the competitive market #expands (0.70) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 34
• Early neoliberalism emerged partly from a critique of laissez-faire and naturalist philosophies of history #expands (0.70) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 379
• Market economies require deliberate political construction, not natural emergence #expands (0.70) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 364