Karl Mannheim shifted from emancipatory sociology to elitist planning for freedom

Evidence

The sophistication of neoliberal sociological thinking owed much to the thought and writings of fellow Hungarian exile Karl Mannheim. Between his arrival in London in 1933 and his death in 1947, Mannheim’s output combined his sociology of knowledge developed in Ideology and Utopia with a dark assessment of the course of European history, where the safeguard of freedom could only be achieved through planning lest the masses fall for totalitarian ideologies. … In the Germany of the 1920s, Mannheim’s sociology of knowledge aimed at creating a scientifically informed politics which could overcome the irrational elements present in ideology. He proposed the “free-floating intelligentsia” as being in a privileged position to achieve the integration of the common denominator present in the various thought-models, thereby actualizing the emancipatory promise of sociology. In the England of the 1930s, however, Mannheim turned towards the idea of “planning for freedom” as a way to pre-emptively safeguard Western civilization, which meant that traditional elites ought to embrace his sociological diagnosis of their failures and apply remedies. He shifted from a conception of knowledge with a catalytic function at the service of a better-informed politics towards a knowledge instrumental for control by the planning elite as a way to counter social disintegration. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 86

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the distinction between Mannheim’s ‘free-floating intelligentsia’ sociology of knowledge and his later ‘planning for freedom’ position — key context for how neoliberals defined themselves against this.
• XREF: Connects to the broader ‘neoliberalism as reaction to planning’ literature; Mannheim is the foil against whom Hayek, Popper, and Polanyi all defined their positions. — connects to: Neumann studied under Laski and Mannheim at the LSE before guarding the Institute’s library. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 919; The sociology of knowledge predates Said and traces to Marx, Mannheim, and Scheler — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 486; Neoliberals adopted Mannheim’s elitist sociology of knowledge while denouncing it. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 89 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberals adopted Mannheim’s elitist sociology of knowledge while denouncing it. #expands (0.85) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 89
• Hayek saw Mannheim’s sociology of knowledge as a dangerous form of scientism. #corroborates (0.85) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 88
• The sociology of knowledge predates Said and traces to Marx, Mannheim, and Scheler #expands (0.75) — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 486