Ordoliberalism, not just Austrian economics, holds a legitimate claim to the neoliberal label.

Evidence

Neoliberalism is anything but a succinct, clearly defined political philosophy. Both friends and foes have done their share to simplify, if not popularize, neoliberal worldviews. Paradoxically, Margaret Thatcher’s “TINA” (there is no alternative) corresponds with the left-wing critique, which posits that neoliberalism is best understood as an economic pensée unique (a concept popularized by Pierre Bourdieu). Growing self-confidence on the right coincided with an increasingly frustrated (old) left during the upheavals of the 1980s and 1990s, with both sides eventually converging on a perspective of a neoliberal one-dimensional man. … This ignores the fact that interdisciplinary Austrian and ordoliberal (German/Swiss) reservoirs of neoliberal thought have been clearly at odds with neoclassical orthodoxy, as are more recent variations of (rational-choice–based) neo-institutionalism. … But contrary to many who readily identify neoliberalism with Austrian economics, Foucault (2004, 112f.) suggested that ordoliberalism has a legitimate claim to the neoliberal title because of its strong emphasis on the social character of economic relations. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 77

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies that ordoliberalism is a genuine variant of neoliberalism, distinct from Austrian economics and neoclassical orthodoxy.
• XREF: Connects to Foucault’s lectures on biopolitics discussing ordoliberalism vs Austrian economics. — connects to: Reputation as a Keynesian can mask an earlier Austrian-network allegiance. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 293; Anti-Keynesianism and Austrian marginalism unite the two neo-liberalisms — Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at…, 527; Ordoliberalism is less distinct from other neoliberal streams than commonly assumed — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 499 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Ordoliberalism is less distinct from other neoliberal streams than commonly assumed #corroborates (0.88) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 499
• Ordoliberalism grants the state a stronger role than Austrian or Chicago neoliberalism does #complicates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 503