Neoliberalism’s purported state-skepticism actually mandates a strong state
Evidence
As in so many other areas, they were merely echoing Schmitt’s position that “Only a strong state can preserve and enhance a free-market economy” and “Only a strong state can generate genuine decentralization, [and] bring about free and autonomous domains.” This was echoed (without attribution) by Hayek: “If we proceeded on the assumption that only the exercises of freedom that the majority will practice are important, we would be certain to create a stagnant society with all the characteristics of unfreedom.” — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 238
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the book’s core ‘thought collective’ thesis and to Foucault’s reading of German ordo-liberalism requiring a strong state to constitute the market. — connects to: Neoliberalism seeks to transform and take over the state, not shrink it — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 117; Neoliberalism seeks a strong state that thwarts democracy, not a weak one — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 155; Neoliberalism centered on a strong state, not the classical night-watchman state — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 2145 (+13 more)
- ADDENDUM: Directly relevant to the sacrifice article’s logic: strong centralized authority as the precondition for market order resembles sacral kingship stabilizing stratified society.
Broader Connections
- Neoliberalism centered on a strong state, not the classical night-watchman state
#corroborates(0.95) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2145 - Neoliberalism seeks to strengthen rather than shrink the state
#corroborates(0.95) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2128 - Neoliberal rhetoric evokes free markets while quietly relying on a strong state
#corroborates(0.93) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 26 - Neoliberalism activates the state for the economy rather than withdrawing it.
#corroborates(0.93) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 106 - Neoliberal crisis response expanded rather than shrank state power
#corroborates(0.90) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 288 - Neoliberalism strengthens repressive state apparatuses rather than shrinking government
#corroborates(0.88) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1748 - Neoliberalism’s core break with classical liberalism is its constructivist view of the state
#expands(0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 776