Early neoliberals sought to radically shrink national sovereignty in service of free trade.
Evidence
Heilperin’s vision of order was multilateral but also unilateral: it brooked no deviations from the strictures of free trade. It was not only that he brushed away the complaint of infringement on sovereignty. Consistent with the Geneva School position of militant globalism developed since the 1930s, diminishing sovereignty was the exact point. He wrote directly that it was necessary to “subordinate” national objectives to international order. He echoed the federalist vision of Mises, Robbins, and Hayek when he argued that “the importance of national boundaries … must be radically and drastically reduced.” They must become “mere administrative demarcation lines,” and national governments must “have only limited powers over their populations.” In its strong form, this would require what he called “geopolitics in reverse gear,” reengineering national boundaries to actively diminish their capacity for self-sufficiency. — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists, 440
Categorization
- XREF: This anticipates the book’s core thesis that neoliberalism was a project to insulate markets from democracy — the sovereignty-diminishing ambition connects to Slobodian’s later treatment of the world economy as a sphere to be protected from national politics. — connects to: Neoliberalism emerged partly as a critique of national sovereignty and democratic budgeting. — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 399; Neoliberals coined and repurposed consumer sovereignty to rival national sovereignty — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 401; Neoliberals idealized the British free-trade empire as a postnational frame — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 334 (+7 more)
- DEFINE: Establishes the Geneva School’s ‘militant globalism’ as a core neoliberal posture: anti-sovereignty federalism, not laissez-faire retreat.
Broader Connections
- Neoliberals wanted international rules to discipline states, not just markets
#expands(0.85) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 266 - Neoliberals coined and repurposed consumer sovereignty to rival national sovereignty
#expands(0.80) — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists, 401 - Early neoliberals rejected laissez-faire and wanted strong state action
#qualifies(0.78) - Neoliberalism seeks to strengthen rather than shrink the state
#qualifies(0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2128 - Neoliberals idealized the British free-trade empire as a postnational frame
#expands(0.72) — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists, 334 - Neoliberalism expands state penal power while professing to shrink government
#qualifies(0.72) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 179