Neoliberalism’s founders believed ideological change demanded deliberate collective organization

Evidence

The major fi gures in this story— Lippmann, Rougier, Röpke, and Hayek— sought with per sis tence and creativity to develop the structures that they believed would be most effective at sustaining an ideology that had fallen into abeyance. The success of their endeavors relied on an entrepreneurial capacity to conceive of new modes of or ga ni za tion and to bear the practical diffi culties and reputational risk of their implementation. The willingness of these individuals to devote their energies to the task is a testament to the importance they attributed to the mere existence of a forum for debate. Considering the goals they were attempting to achieve, they devoted remarkably little discussion or consideration to the complex relationship between ideas and politics. Their practices, however, attest to a belief that ideological change was not best precipitated by solitary individuals; the success or failure of their project would depend, they implicitly acknowledged, on a deliberate act of collaboration. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 218

Categorization

• XREF: Speaks directly to how think-tank infrastructure (later AEI, Heritage, IEA) became the vehicle for the neoliberal turn — connects to the reader’s stated interest in how MPS ideas reached policy. — connects to: Neoliberal organization was deliberately structured as layered, opaque concentric circles — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 2119; Neoliberal intellectuals formed a thought collective as a unit — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 10; The neoliberal thought collective was itself a designed order, not a spontaneous one — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 207 (+9 more)
• SEED: Angle for an essay: ‘the entrepreneurial sociology of ideas’ — how a doctrine’s success depends on organizational form, not just argumentative content, with the MPS as the case study.

Broader Connections

• The neoliberal thought collective was itself a designed order, not a spontaneous one #corroborates (0.90) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 207
• Neoliberal organization was deliberately structured as layered, opaque concentric circles #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2119
• Neoliberals pursued an engineered order rather than expecting free markets to emerge naturally #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1907
• Neoliberal ‘spontaneous order’ rhetoric masked deliberately orchestrated institutional networks #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2114
• Neoliberal intellectuals formed a thought collective as a unit #corroborates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 10
• Neoliberal institutions aimed to build a new creed, not revive old liberalism #expands (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 773
• Neoliberalism’s cohesion comes from thought-collective structure, not explicit doctrine #qualifies (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 916
• The neoliberal thought collective is a multilevel, multiphase, multisector political capacity-building project #expands (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 1325
• Intra-society factional warfare shaped the launch of rival neoliberal organizations #expands (0.75) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 370