Neoliberal competitiveness outpaces its communitarian moral underpinnings, fueling populism.

Evidence

The current fusion of neoliberalism and right-wing populism is a consequence of the unleashed notion of the competition state, the competition region, and the competitive units of and within the enterprise. The social reproduction of the moral underpinnings of neoliberal order—communitarian notions of self-help and caring, social responsibility for those in close proximity—can be regarded as compensation for social redistribution and welfare, but it may not develop fast enough or at the same speed as the centrifugal notions of selfishness and competitiveness. Only time will tell when neoliberalism will use up its next—or even final—life. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 33

Categorization

• QUESTION: The claim that communitarian self-help can compensate for lost welfare is worth interrogating — does the book offer evidence for this mechanism operating at historical scale?
• XREF: connects to: Early neoliberals framed market competition as dependent on prior moral virtues. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 70; Neoliberalism’s weakening of democratic values enables neoconservative moralism and authoritarianism — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 169; Market success is self-justifying for neoliberals, like natural selection. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 921 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Early neoliberals framed market competition as dependent on prior moral virtues. #corroborates (0.82) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 70
• Neoliberalism’s weakening of democratic values enables neoconservative moralism and authoritarianism #corroborates (0.78) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 169
• Neopopulism strategically manufactures and amplifies uncertainty rather than offering alternatives #expands (0.76) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 442
• Market success is self-justifying for neoliberals, like natural selection. #complicates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 921
• Neoliberal economic rationality is extinguishing the domains through which democracy materializes. #corroborates (0.75)
• Populism may itself express the public’s irrational exuberance #qualifies (0.72) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 686