Neoliberals exploited the Bank of Sweden prize to gain professorial standing

Evidence

The role of prizes deserves to be taken more seriously in an expansive social epistemology. Prizes serve to inform and structure the internal dynamics of an intellectual field like economics; and equally, they play an important part in the validation of the doctrines of the field amongst the larger public. But in this case, there is a further consideration that is frequently overlooked. Because epistemology is so very central to neoliberalism, they were well poised to take advantage of the opportunity created by the rogue behavior of the Bank of Sweden to upgrade their standing in the postwar economics profession, through occupation of the newly formed Prize committee, and the elevation of MPS members to the exalted status of ‘winners of the Nobel Prize’. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 536

Categorization

• SEED: The academic-prize-infrastructure angle: how a field’s internal validation machinery shapes its external public legitimacy — worth an essay on prizes as epistemology institutions.
• XREF: connects to: The Swedish economics prize deliberately privileged American neoclassicism and MPS neoliberalism over other schools. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 533; The economics prize consciously moved the profession in a neoliberal direction — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 484; Neoliberals themselves devised ideological scorekeeping of Nobel economics winners — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 510 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• The economics prize consciously moved the profession in a neoliberal direction #corroborates (0.85) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 484
• Neoliberals themselves devised ideological scorekeeping of Nobel economics winners #expands (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 510
• The Nobel Prize initially marginalized Friedman but later legitimized the MPS school #corroborates (0.80) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 514
• Nobel economics prizes to neoliberals resulted from contingency plus deliberate agenda #qualifies (0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 499
• Neoliberalism rose to hegemony through transnational networks of scholars and allies #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 81