Neoliberalism was never a unified doctrine but three cross-fertilizing sects

Evidence

Thus there are at least two imposing obstacles confronting anyone seeking a deeper understanding of neoliberalism: the fog thrown up around the term “neoliberalism” and attendant doctrines by the participants themselves, in pursuit of their own political unification ambitions and projects with other movements on the right; and the fact that the tenets of neoliberal doctrine evolved and mutated over the postwar period. The ten-plus commandments of neoliberalism were not delivered complete and immaculate down from the Mont in 1947, when the neoliberals convened their first meeting of the MPS. Nor can one reliably reconstruct it from a small set of “Hayekian encyclicals,” as Jamie Peck so aptly puts it. In fact, if we simply restrict ourselves to Mont Pèlerin itself (and this is unduly narrow), there rapidly precipitated at least three distinguishable sects or subguilds: the Austrian-inflected Hayekian legal theory, the Chicago School of neoclassical economics, and the German Ordoliberals. Hayek himself admitted this in the mid-1980s, when he warned of “the constant danger that the Mont Pèlerin Society might split into a Friedmanite and Hayekian wing.” — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 120

Categorization

• XREF: Fits the reader’s ‘thought collective’ lens — the movement’s plasticity and internal factionalism (Austrian, Chicago, Ordoliberal) is precisely how it adapted across crises. — connects to: Neoliberalism was never a unified doctrine but three distinct sects from its founding. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 120; Neoliberalism was a pluralist movement opposing three rival liberal traditions, not a corporate tool — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 2115; Neoliberalism was a flexible project, not a fixed doctrine with essential content — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 115 (+8 more)
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 120

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism was never a unified doctrine but three distinct sects from its founding. #corroborates (0.97) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 120
• Neoliberalism originated in contested debate, not a pure doctrine #corroborates (0.90) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 405
• Neoliberalism was internally heterogeneous and institutionally embedded, not monolithic #corroborates (0.90) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 20
• Neoliberalism encompassed bitter internal conflicts, not a unified doctrine. #corroborates (0.88) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 20
• Neoliberalism may not cohere as a unified doctrine in actual practice. #corroborates (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 185
• Neoliberalism began as a loosely defined matrix of convictions rather than a fixed doctrine #corroborates (0.85) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 148
• Neoliberalism was a flexible project, not a fixed doctrine with essential content #corroborates (0.82) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 115
• Neoliberalism’s cohesion comes from thought-collective structure, not explicit doctrine #corroborates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 916
• Neoliberalism was a pluralist movement opposing three rival liberal traditions, not a corporate tool #qualifies (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2115
• Neoliberal doctrines crossed borders stripped of context and were adapted into domestic traditions #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 297
• Religious and political heterogeneity prevented French neoliberals from building a unified network #exemplifies (0.72) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 294