Neoliberalism was initially a self-declared identity, not an external label
Evidence
What I call “early neoliberalism” captures the period of self-declared neoliberalism from the 1930s to the 1960s. It is quite different semantically to what one would today associate with the concept when it serves as a critical term pointing at others or at certain conditions and policies as being neoliberal. Yet, at its birth and during its adolescence, neoliberalism was self-referential. Between the 1930s and the 1960s one can follow its proponents in various forums and debates and one still finds the label actively mentioned and defended. As Louis Baudin reminded Röpke and Rueff in 1948 during yet another colloquium, the term was known in the world and one could not take it back. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 364
Categorization
- XREF: Reframes the pejorative modern usage against the historical self-identification — relevant to genealogical accounts of the term. — connects to: The paleoliberal and neoliberal labels once marked opposing camps within the liberal revival — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 350; Friedman abandoned the label neoliberal by the late 1950s — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 443; Neoliberalism is a self-consciously evolving thought collective, not a fixed catechism — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 141 (+9 more)
Broader Connections
- Neoliberalism is a self-consciously evolving thought collective, not a fixed catechism
#expands(0.82) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 141 - Neoliberalism was a flexible project, not a fixed doctrine with essential content
#expands(0.78) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 115 - Neoliberalism is a novel doctrine in flux, not a return to laissez-faire
#expands(0.78) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 439 - Neoliberalism is internally plural yet not formless
#complicates(0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 10