Neoliberalism persists through pervasive cultural imagery, not popular political theory

Evidence

In the aftermath of the crisis, Hayek is now treated as a seer of prodigious perspicuity; and at the exhortation of Glenn Beck, his Road to Serfdom has been read (or maybe just scanned) by thousands who will never be bothered to delve much deeper into neoliberalism, or come to comprehend the political project that they feel speaks to them. But then again, it may be because the actual dry and stilted Hayekian encyclicals have less to do with all that than the fact that neoliberal images now so pervade cultural discourse that the situation has far transcended explicit political theory. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 246

Categorization

• QUESTION: How does cultural saturation of neoliberal imagery outrun explicit political-theory allegiance?
• SHARE: The Glenn Beck detail about Road to Serfdom being scanned rather than read would amuse someone following populist recycling of academic economics.
• XREF: connects to: Neoliberal theories succeed as policy rhetoric despite having scant evidence — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 425; Neoliberalism’s durability rests on fusing the economic with the cultural — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 298; Historical icons of neoliberal selfhood are largely manufactured retrofits — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 300 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism’s durability rests on fusing the economic with the cultural #corroborates (0.92) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 298
• Neoliberalism’s durability rested on transforming culture and winning over former opponents #corroborates (0.92) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1607
• Treating culture and economics as separate spheres misreads how neoliberalism operates #corroborates (0.88) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 298
• Historical icons of neoliberal selfhood are largely manufactured retrofits #exemplifies (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 300