Neoliberalism developed in parallel national schools that rarely interacted despite shared MPS membership.

Evidence

Given, however, that the MPS project of reconstruction was a transnational effort, the Chicago contingent was not the only group investigating these issues. In 1951, as Friedman observed, “The doctrine sometimes called neoliberalism … [had] been developing more or less simultaneously in many parts of the world” (1951a, 91). A German cadre, later known as ordoliberals, or German neoliberals, was also occupied in reconsidering the classical liberal conceptions of monopoly and corporations, and in developing what became known as ordoliberal competition policy. However, unlike the Chicagoans, the Germans had begun their efforts in the mid-1930s (Gerber 1998, 234–235); by the late 1930s, the theoretical foundations of ordoliberalism were more or less in place. Despite the fact that both groups actively participated in the MPS, these two research initiatives turned out to be largely disengaged in practice, each influenced by different institutional and legal components within their respective country. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1077

Categorization

• XREF: Speaks to the reader’s existing understanding of the MPS as a unified network — this passage stresses that national factions like the Chicagoans and ordoliberals operated largely in isolation, complicating the notion of a single coordinated movement. — connects to: Ordoliberals themselves described their school as one national variety of a shared neoliberalism — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 615; The Chicago School’s neoliberal network included prominent figures often thought hostile to it — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 719; Neoliberal network activity blurred boundaries between national schools of thought — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 559 (+3 more)
• QUESTION: Why did the German and Chicago schools stay disengaged despite both being MPS members? Worth tracing the institutional and legal differences the passage gestures at.
• DEFINE: Introduces ordoliberalism as a distinct school emerging from Weimar-era German thinking in the mid-1930s.

Broader Connections

• Neoliberal network activity blurred boundaries between national schools of thought #contradicts (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 559
• Neoliberalism’s spread depended on transnational discourse networks rather than national institutions alone #complicates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2118
• Ordoliberalism is less distinct from other neoliberal streams than commonly assumed #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 499