Major neoliberal theorists all held that markets convert conflict into harmony

Evidence

Variants of Hirschman’s thesis run through Mises’s argument that, if not for the greater productivity of the division of labour, there would be no sentiments of sympathy or good will, but only ‘endless bloody fighting’. It is central to Hayek’s description of the market as a ‘catallaxy’ – a term derived from the Greek verb katallatein, which meant both to exchange and ‘to turn from an enemy into a friend’. It informs Röpke’s argument that allowing individuals to pursue their interests through the market leads to harmonious social coordination, while the pursuit of interests through the political process brings ‘millions of conflicting interests’ into play. And it appears even in the positivist Friedman’s argument that the use of ‘political channels’ strains the ‘social cohesion essential for a stable society’, while the use of the market reduces tensions by making it unnecessary for individuals to agree on ultimate ends. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 35

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the etymology of katallatein and the concept of catallaxy, useful for the reader’s definitional needs on market discourse.
• CANDY: Hayek’s coinage of ‘catallaxy’ from a Greek verb meaning both ‘to exchange’ and ‘to turn enemy into friend’ is a neat conversational tidbit.
• XREF: connects to: Neoliberals theorized peace as the separation of ownership from sovereignty — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 258; Market competition was framed by neoliberals as guarantor of rights and peace; Neoliberalism is internally diverse and marked by real internal conflict — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 45 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberals pathologised political struggle by framing the market as peaceful and politics as violent #expands (0.90) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 64
• Neoliberal sociologists held that free markets curb war-like passions #corroborates (0.90) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 281
• Market competition was framed by neoliberals as guarantor of rights and peace #corroborates (0.85)
• Neoliberals depicted markets as peaceful information processors and politics as violent friend-enemy coercion. #expands (0.85) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 403
• Neoliberals characterized capitalism as peaceful and any economic politicization as totalitarian. #expands (0.80) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 434
• Neoliberal market discipline was adopted to pacify unruly democratic publics #expands (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 122
• Neoliberals split into warring factions over fixed versus floating exchange rates #contradicts (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 41
• Neoliberals theorized peace as the separation of ownership from sovereignty #expands (0.75) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 258
• Neoliberalism is internally diverse and marked by real internal conflict #contradicts (0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 45