Neoliberalism is a mutable thought collective, not a fixed market-fundamentalist creed

Evidence

Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, the neoliberal project stood out from other strains of right-wing thought in that it self-consciously was constituted as a multitiered sociological entity dedicated to the continued transnational development, promulgation, and popularization of doctrines intended to mutate over time, in reaction to both intellectual criticism and external events. It was a movable feast, and not a catechism fixed at the Council of Trent. Much of the time the litmus test was shared political objectives inculcated through prolonged internship in the thought collective; but infrequently, even that was open to delicate negotiation. Nevertheless, it was a sociological thought collective that eventually produced a relatively shared ontology concerning the world coupled with a more-or-less shared set of propositions about markets and political economy. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 141

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines neoliberalism as an adaptive transnational thought collective rather than a static catechism.
• XREF: Directly frames this chapter’s ‘thought collective’ reading purpose; the Hayek-Mirowski idea of collectives recurs across Mirowski’s other work. — connects to: Calling neoliberalism ‘market fundamentalism’ obscures its actual content — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 142; Neoliberalism is a self-consciously evolving thought collective, not a fixed catechism — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 141; Neoliberalism’s cohesion comes from thought-collective structure, not explicit doctrine — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 916 (+9 more)
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 141

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism is a self-consciously evolving thought collective, not a fixed catechism #corroborates (0.96) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 141
• Neoliberalism’s cohesion comes from thought-collective structure, not explicit doctrine #expands (0.90) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 916
• Neoliberalism is internally plural yet not formless #corroborates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 10
• Neoliberalism is a contested but usable analytical category rather than a fixed ideology #corroborates (0.78) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 15
• Neoliberalism is best understood as open problems, not fixed solutions #expands (0.78) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 162
• Neoliberalism is a novel doctrine in flux, not a return to laissez-faire #corroborates (0.78) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 439
• Neoliberalism is an interventionist flexible policy approach, not a laissez-faire orthodoxy #qualifies (0.74) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 22
• Neoliberalism is activist constructivism, not laissez-faire passivity. #expands (0.72) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2125