The term neoconservative was coined to brand apostates from the left

Evidence

The term “neoconservative” was coined in the early 1970s by Michael Harrington, who is associated with the democratic socialist tradition in the United States, as a way to distance former allies (some liberals, others socialists) who had started to gravitate to the right. These turncoats included figures such as Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Michael Novak, Nathan Glazer, and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Most of the first generation of neocons supported the United States’ war with Vietnam and resented the antiwar movement. They saw themselves as liberals who believed in the idea that America was a force for good in the world and that it should maintain global stability and intervene militarily when needed. They stood against the “bad liberals” who championed George McGovern’s bid for the presidency in 1972, viewing them as operating with a politics of “appeasement” and liberal guilt. Many opposed Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” program of domestic reform as well. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 378 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

What I call “early neoliberalism” captures the period of self-declared neoliberalism from the 1930s to the 1960s. It is quite different semantically to what one would today associate with the concept when it serves as a critical term pointing at others or at certain conditions and policies as being neoliberal. Yet, at its birth and during its adolescence, neoliberalism was self-referential. Between the 1930s and the 1960s one can follow its proponents in various forums and debates and one still finds the label actively mentioned and defended. As Louis Baudin reminded Röpke and Rueff in 1948 during yet another colloquium, the term was known in the world and one could not take it back. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 364 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Neoliberalism was not a unified phenomenon. Even the name of the doctrine was a problem: Louis Baudin preferred “individualism,” Louis Rougier “positive liberalism,” while Jacques Rueff favored “left-wing liberalism.” The term neoliberalism became prevalent only after the Colloque for strategic reasons: “the words ‘neo’ and ‘renovation,’ declared Louis Marlio, … “distinguish us from several authors of whom we did not accept all the practical theories and all objections [against] interventions which are accepted by most of us like perfectly normal things. For those who know it, … the word ‘neo’ is perhaps not essential, but for those who do not know it, it is totally useful.” To be “neoliberal” was supposed to imply the recognition that “laissez-faire” economics was not enough and that, in the name of liberalism, a modern economic policy was needed. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 279 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Neoconservatism originated as a 1970s left-to-right defection over Vietnam and anti-war liberalism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 424; The term neoconservative was coined by a socialist to brand rightward-climbing ex-allies — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 378; Neoliberals once named themselves openly and then abandoned the label — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 103 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• The term neoconservative was coined by a socialist to brand rightward-climbing ex-allies #corroborates (0.97) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 378
• Neoliberalism was initially a self-declared identity, not an external label #complicates (0.87) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 364
• The term ‘neoliberal’ was adopted deliberately to distance liberalism from pure laissez-faire #complicates (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 279
• Neoliberals once named themselves openly and then abandoned the label #complicates (0.78) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 103