Economists depoliticized austerity by presenting class-based coercion as neutral expertise.
Evidence
Th e economic experts at the Brussels and Genoa conferences would not have envisioned themselves as subordinating the will of the majority as such. Rather, in the dissonance that is common among economists, they would have seen their reforms as grounded in an elevated understanding of how the world works. Th ese fathers of today’s mainstream economics presented austerity policies as the outcome of theory that was objective and neutral, a worldview that transcended class relations. Th eir stated urge to “tame men,” in turn, was not domination, but rather a necessity for an organized society— something above mere politics or class. Such is the manner of depoliticization: it served (and still serves) to conceal economic coercion under the guise of building consensus— in this case, as elsewhere, for the disempowerment of the many. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1569
Categorization
- DEEPTHINKING: The mechanism of depoliticization here — presenting class rule as objective science — is a dense, nuanced claim about how technocratic authority launders coercion into consensus.
- DEFINE: Effectively defines ‘depoliticization’ as the concealment of coercion behind the facade of neutral expertise.
- XREF: connects to: Bourgeois economists avoided totalizing models out of class instinct — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 374; International economists forged austerity as a deliberate antiworker project — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 194; IMF austerity economists reused the fascist playbook of labor discipline — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 231 (+18 more)
Broader Connections
- Economic theory gives austerity legitimacy that complements raw state coercion
#expands(0.92) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 861 - Depoliticizing economics is how the capitalist order sustains itself
#expands(0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 21 - Austerity persists as an ideology that resists empirical refutation
#expands(0.82) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 613 - Neoclassical economics replaced class analysis with individualistic merit narratives
#corroborates(0.78) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 30 - Austerity theory’s denial of class precisely coincided with peak class conflict.
#qualifies(0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1570