Neoliberals understood the organizational nature of knowledge better than their critics did

Evidence

One might have added, how much more powerful are ideas consciously forged with the vested interest firmly kept in mind! Not without admiration, we have to concede that neoliberal intellectuals struggled through to a deeper understanding of the political and organizational character of modern knowledge and science than did their opponents, and therefore present a worthy contemporary challenge to everyone interested in the history of science and the archaeology of knowledge. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2117

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the interest-side/idea-side debate in sociology of knowledge, and connects to Mirowski’s own argument in ‘Machine Dreams’ and ‘Science-Mart’ about the right’s strategic use of knowledge institutions. — connects to: Neoliberals out-thought the left on how knowledge is organized politically. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 137; Neoliberalism reframed politics as an epistemological question of what can be known — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 54; Neoliberalism’s deliberate epistemic inconsistencies enabled its long-term success (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism’s deliberate epistemic inconsistencies enabled its long-term success #corroborates (0.82)
• Neoliberal intellectuals formed a thought collective as a unit #corroborates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 10
• Neoliberalism is a self-consciously evolving thought collective, not a fixed catechism #corroborates (0.74) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 141
• Neoliberalism’s political strength partly derives from being poorly understood #corroborates (0.72) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 81
• Networked mutual influence, not heroic individuals, explains neoliberal thought formation #corroborates (0.70) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 13