Neoliberals characterized capitalism as peaceful and any economic politicization as totalitarian.

Evidence

While the lines of influence that pass from Hobson to Lenin to Nkrumah are real enough, the point of Bauer’s genealogy was to characterise capitalism as peaceful and nonviolent, and any politicisation of the economy in the name of equality as requiring ‘world government with totalitarian powers’. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 434

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to earlier chapters on the 1930s ideological lineage (see Chapter 3) and to reader’s broader reading on austerity and market ethics debates. — connects to: Major neoliberal theorists all held that markets convert conflict into harmony — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 35; Neoliberals coined ‘totalitarianism’ to denounce any collectivist market intervention, not just terror states — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 153; Neoliberals saw economic rights as a path toward totalitarianism — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 163 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberals depicted markets as peaceful information processors and politics as violent friend-enemy coercion. #corroborates (0.95) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 403
• Neoliberals pathologised political struggle by framing the market as peaceful and politics as violent #corroborates (0.95) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 64
• Market competition was framed by neoliberals as guarantor of rights and peace #expands (0.85)