Neoliberals rejected Millian social democracy more than colonial rule itself

Evidence

Hayek, in contrast, set himself against Mill’s belief that, until people were capable of being guided by conviction or persuasion, ‘there is nothing for them but implicit obedience to an Akbar or Charlemagne, if they are so fortunate to find one’. In Hayek’s view, the assumption that people must be morally autonomous before they can be free reversed the order of priority between morality and freedom; only in a free society could people act on their own moral convictions, he argued. … What they objected to most in social democratic colonialism was not the colonialism but the social democracy. Mill was responsible for the idea of social justice, Hayek argued, and and his influence had consequently ‘done a great deal of harm, In Mises’s estimation, Mill was ‘the great advocate of socialism’ in comparison with whom ‘all other socialist writers - even Marx, Engels, and Lassalle - are scarcely of any importance.’ — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 246

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the current debate over Hayek’s and Mises’s alleged justifications of authoritarian regimes (Chile under Pinochet) — the claim that their objection was to social democracy rather than coercion itself. — connects to: Neoliberal intellectuals saw Bandung as a resource against Western colonialism — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 275; Early neoliberals rejected laissez-faire and wanted strong state action; Neoliberals feared colonial anti-imperialism would morph into anti-capitalism — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 251 (+3 more)
• DEFINE: Clarifies the precise nature of the early neoliberal critique of Mill — not that he tolerated despotism but that he reversed the priority of freedom and moral autonomy.

Broader Connections

• Early neoliberals rejected laissez-faire and wanted strong state action #expands (0.82)
• Neoliberals feared colonial anti-imperialism would morph into anti-capitalism #complicates (0.75) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 251
• Welfarist colonial policy substituted social justice rhetoric for political independence #complicates (0.72) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 242
• Neoliberals rejected the pure state-versus-market binary as a false dichotomy #expands (0.72) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 9