Neoliberals viewed foreign investment as inseparable from exporting capitalist social transformation

Evidence

Here, he and his frequent antagonist Rüstow agreed: while Rüstow worried that the social dislocation that would follow the imposition of Western civilisation on ‘natives’ who were still living in the ‘Stone Age’ would provide an opening for communism, he nonetheless argued that as ‘long as the present structure of these countries continues, we might as well convert any investment of ours into roubles’. For the neoliberals, a conducive climate for foreign investment required a profound social transformation, or conversion, and the adoption of the morals of the market. Exporting capital meant exporting capitalist social relations and a morality that fostered capital accumulation. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 298

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: ‘Exporting capital meant exporting capitalist social relations’ as a lens on modern conditionality regimes — IMF and World Bank structural adjustment as moral conversion projects.
• XREF: connects to: Neoliberal funders treated policy influence as a vertically integrated production pipeline — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 127; Neoliberal trade doctrine plus corporate reengineering drove offshore capital flight — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 171; Integration into global capitalism reinforces, not relieves, the periphery’s subordination — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 292 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism required culturally transforming non-capitalist societies to extend markets #corroborates (0.92) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 88
• Neoliberal modernisation aimed to destroy non-market sources of social reproduction #corroborates (0.82) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 354
• Integration into global capitalism reinforces, not relieves, the periphery’s subordination #complicates (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 292