Partisan think tanks converted neoliberal philosophy into practical political tools.

Evidence

In London in 1955, another businessmen, Antony Fisher, founded the Institute of Economic Affairs with Hayek’s encouragement, following a visit to the Foundation for Economic Education in 1952. The IEA further developed these methods and then helped establish a number of think tanks in other countries including the United States. Many of these partisan think tanks were founded and run by members of the Mont Pèlerin Society (see Plehwe and Walpen 2006 for an overview). The think tanks transformed neoliberalism from an intellectual philosophy into a set of practical political tools. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1912

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader network-of-think-tanks historiography (Plehwe, Mirowski) and to Fisher’s later role launching the Atlas Network lineage. — connects to: Think tanks mobilized citizens to draft government-spending-cut plans — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 585; Neoliberal think tanks were standardized through explicit managerial blueprinting — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 580; The think tank originated as a deliberate instrument of intellectual engineering — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1910 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Ousted neoliberal officials retained power through think tanks and civil society #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1616
• Chilean neoliberals founded think tanks to preserve their influence after losing power #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1610
• Neoliberalism triumphed through fringe think tanks, not academic economics #corroborates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 377
• Neoliberal intellectuals formed a thought collective as a unit #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 10
• The neoliberal thought collective is a multilevel, multiphase, multisector political capacity-building project #expands (0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 1325
• Neoliberalism rose to hegemony through transnational networks of scholars and allies #corroborates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 81
• Postwar business conservatives built think tanks that functioned like political parties without mass support. #exemplifies (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1440
• Neoliberal networks organized their intellectual labor as military-style artillery divisions #expands (0.70) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 87