Neoliberals argued political meddling, not markets, causes war

Evidence

Just as figures like the Baron de Montesquieu and James Steuart had argued that commerce was sweet and pacifying – in an age when the slave trade was at its peak, and when ‘trade in general was still a hazardous, adventurous and often violent business’ – the neoliberals of the twentieth century sought to sanitise the capitalism of their time. An unrestricted competitive market, they argued, would replace violent conflicts over territory and resources with peaceful and mutually beneficial commerce. The cause of conflict, they argued, lay elsewhere – in the politicisation of the economy and the confusion between political sovereignty and the ownership of a territory’s natural resources. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 256

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the ethics-of-markets debate; connects to the sweet-commerce thesis the reader has been tracing through preceding chapters and to contemporary claims that geopolitics, not capitalism, drives conflict. — connects to: Neoliberals pathologised political struggle by framing the market as peaceful and politics as violent — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 64; Neoliberals argued that politicizing the economy, not capitalism, caused imperialism. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 434; Neoliberal sociologists held that free markets curb war-like passions — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 281 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberals redefined imperialism as an effect of politicising the economy, not of capitalist expansion. #expands (0.95) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 231
• Neoliberals argued that politicizing the economy, not capitalism, caused imperialism. #expands (0.92) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 434
• Neoliberal sociologists held that free markets curb war-like passions #corroborates (0.85) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 281
• Neoliberals theorized peace as the separation of ownership from sovereignty #corroborates (0.80) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 258