Hayek’s public image was constructed by political appropriation, not his own text

Evidence

Hayek had become a symbolic fi gure, appropriated to serve as a public relations tool and source of intellectual legitimation for critics of the New Deal state and as an emblem of reactionary excess to its more numerous defenders. As the frequent invocations of Hayek in the contemporary media attest, these roles have continued to defi ne his public image ever since. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 228

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the broader historiography of how intellectuals get captured as symbolic touchstones in political discourse — parallels the other MPS figures’ reception histories. — connects to: Reader’s Digest’s abridgment made Hayek famous in America — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 221; Hayek’s own rhetoric invited the laissez-faire reading he later lamented — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 223; Hayek’s sudden American celebrity from The Road to Serfdom discomforted him deeply — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 222 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Hayek dropped anti-engineer rhetoric for political expediency, not principle #exemplifies (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 1920
• Hayek’s distinctive skill was coalition-building sensitivity rather than Mill-style openness #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 853