Reading neoliberalism only through Friedman obscures its multiple strategies toward the public

Evidence

In contrast to Friedman’s naive rhetoric about natural liberty, these conservative strands of neoliberalism were far more useful to those seeking to bolster the legal foundations of the competitive market. They shared an evolutionary social theory, an attention to the role of morality (and particularly Christianity) in a market order, and a commitment to using law to protect the intermediate institutions of civil society from political interference. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 353 (#expands, via linked claim)

The Road from Mont Pèlerin may have inadvertently contributed to some of the confusion surrounding the core subject by emphasizing areas of ambiguity, neoliberal pluralism, and historical diversity of actually existing neoliberalism. Yet our effort to get away from cookie-cutter models of neoliberalism was decidedly not an invitation to think of neoliberalism as utterly amorphous. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 10 (#expands, via linked claim)

How and why did a German Hayekian (Herbert Giersch) flourish during the alleged Monetarist takeover of MPS, advancing neoliberalism in the global trade policy and development arenas together with the Indian-born Depaak Lal during the 1980s? Lal conceptualized culture as central to his efforts to make a case for multiple roads to capitalism and neoliberalism, certainly not a key concern for either Friedman or Hayek. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 14 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Friedman deliberately balanced utopian ideals against incremental politically feasible proposals — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 493; History has overshadowed key neoliberal figures besides Friedman and Hayek. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 23; George Stigler, not Friedman, was the key neoliberal theorist of the marketplace of ideas (+6 more)

Related

• Ordoliberal and public-choice strands of neoliberalism explicitly reject Friedman’s natural-liberty rhetoric (similarity 0.88)
• Neoliberalism accommodated culturally pluralist thinkers beyond Friedman and Hayek (similarity 0.86)
• Milton Friedman’s 1951 manifesto defined neoliberalism as a competitive order requiring an active state. (similarity 0.85)
• Friedman deliberately balanced utopian ideals against incremental politically feasible proposals (similarity 0.84)
• Neoliberals saw that competitive markets require an actively constructed legal and moral framework. (similarity 0.84)
• Neoliberalism was a pluralist movement opposing three rival liberal traditions, not a corporate tool (similarity 0.83)
• Neoliberalism is best understood as open questions with a constant goal (similarity 0.83)
• Neoliberals rejected treating economics as ironclad natural law (similarity 0.83)
• Neoliberalism is best understood as open problems, not fixed solutions (similarity 0.83)
• Neoliberals do not practice the laissez-faire they preach to the public. (similarity 0.83)
• Neoliberals rejected the pure state-versus-market binary as a false dichotomy (similarity 0.83)
• Neoliberal thinkers rejected natural-rights foundations, deriving morality from market evolution (similarity 0.82)
• Neoliberalism is internally plural yet not formless (similarity 0.82)
• Neoliberalism evolved by sloughing off earlier liberal doctrines without acknowledging reversals (similarity 0.82)
• Neoliberals rejected classical liberalism’s rationalism in favor of critical conventionalism. (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Ordoliberal and public-choice strands of neoliberalism explicitly reject Friedman’s natural-liberty rhetoric #expands (0.90) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 353
• Neoliberalism is internally plural yet not formless #expands (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 10
• Neoliberalism operates from a unified playbook despite surface variation #contradicts (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 917
• Neoliberalism accommodated culturally pluralist thinkers beyond Friedman and Hayek #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 14
• Neoliberalism is best understood as open problems, not fixed solutions #expands (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 162