Nobel Prizes reflect disciplinary politics and local context, not pure scientific merit

Evidence

It is an error to think that the Nobel Prizes effortlessly represent the distillation of the historical hive mind of the invisible college of scientists distributed across the world; if that were the case, one could simply distribute awards according the highest citation counts and h-indexes, and do away with the rigmarole of nomination rules, committees and consultations, plus the elaborate press briefings and PR that surround the event. Both disciplinary dynamics and local context matter, and never more so than with the Bank of Sweden Prize. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 480

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies how the ersatz ‘Nobel’ in economics should be read: as a constructed, locally-conditioned institution rather than a neutral measure of scientific achievement.
• XREF: Connects to sociological critiques of prestige and citation metrics, and to the reader’s map of how intellectuals manufacture legitimacy for policy doctrines. — connects to: The Nobel Prize initially marginalized Friedman but later legitimized the MPS school — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 514; Nobel laureates did not constitute a uniquely best population in science — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 457; A Nobel selection committee member admitted MPS overrepresentation in the prize — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 498 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Individual scholarly brilliance mattered less than institutional European power #exemplifies (0.85) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 269
• Perfect neutrality in politically charged science is elusive and possibly undesirable #corroborates (0.82) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 93
• The Nobel prize shaped American economics despite official denials #expands (0.78) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 526
• Institutional affiliations reveal neoliberal commitments better than Nobel prize membership does #qualifies (0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 509
• Disciplinary boundaries reflect reification, not the nature of their objects #corroborates (0.72) — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 11