Neoliberalism’s resilience rests on deliberate epistemic inconsistency across discourse levels.

Evidence

As a result, neoliberals developed a sociology of knowledge wherein discourses enunciated at different levels preserved the critical philosophy of uncertainty which had been developed in the late 1930s at the core, while frankly embracing an instrumentalist and positivist view of knowledge at the lower end of its channels of distribution. If the epistemological agility afforded by conventionalism eroded some of its founding principles, it nurtured the think tank ideological machines and their capture of the marketplace of ideas. Largely imperceptible, these deliberate epistemic inconsistencies paved the way for the long-term resilience and success of neoliberalism as a social and political ideology. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 93

Categorization

• XREF: This echo of Hayek’s spontaneous-order defense of knowledge fragmentation connects with epistemic-anxiety themes from Along the Archival Grain and the sociology-of-knowledge critiques in the Frankfurt School material. — connects to: Economists and think-tank neoliberals respond to disconfirming evidence differently — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 101; Neoliberalism’s resilience stems from multiple strategies for managing popular will — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 100; Neoliberalism’s persistence is better explained as adaptation than as zombie-like undead survival — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 13 (+9 more)
• DEEPTHINKING: The two-tier epistemology claim — rigorous uncertainty at the core, instrumentalist positivism for distribution — is dense and would reward return; it explains an apparent contradiction in neoliberal thought.

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism’s deliberate epistemic inconsistencies enabled its long-term success #corroborates (0.95)
• Neoliberalism holds together several unresolved internal contradictions by asserting both sides at once #expands (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2142
• Neoliberal discourse conflated the transcendental with epistemic claims about human frailty #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2135
• Neoliberal theories succeed as policy rhetoric despite having scant evidence #expands (0.80) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 425
• Neoliberalism operates from a unified playbook despite surface variation #complicates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 917
• Neoliberalism has a coherent crisis logic despite lacking fixed doctrine #complicates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 146