Two rival readings of Polanyi’s double movement differ on reform versus revolution

Evidence

For Marx, essence and facticity, the situation of the history of essence and the situation of actual history, are no longer separate regions or levels which are independent of one another: the historicity of man is included in the determination of his essence … But the discovery of the historicity of the essence of man does not mean that the history of the essence of man is to be identified with his actual history. We have already heard that man is never immediately one with his life-activity', but rather distinguishes’ himself from it and relates' to it. Essence and existence become distinct here: his existence is a means’ towards the realization of his essence, or, in alienation, his essence is a means towards his mere physical existence. If essence and existence move apart in this way, while at the same time the reunification of both of them as an actual achievement is the truly free task for human practice, then, where facticity has progressed as far as the complete reversal of human essence, the radical abolition of this facticity is the supreme task. The unwavering vision of the essence of man becomes, precisely, a relentless impetus towards radical revolution: the fact that in the actual situation of capitalism it is not merely a question of economic or political crisis, but a question of catastrophe for the essence of humanitythis discovery condemns every mere economic or political reform to failure from the outset, and demands unconditionally the catastrophic abolition of actual conditions by means of total revolution. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 421 (#expands, via linked claim)

Prefiguring Karl Polanyi’s analy­sis of market fundamentalism in The ­Great Transformation, Rüstow said at the Lipp­mann Colloquium that “the market had become a domain of atomization” and the belief that the market “operates by itself” was a “theologico-­rational error.” One-­sided focus on efficiency, profit, and productivity had led to a so­cio­log­i­cally damaging isolation and the degeneration of morality as the individual became detached from all community. In a cruel paradox, the experience of being severed from all social ties and set adrift in the world “appears from the point of view of the market economy as liberation from friction and extra-­economic drag.” Without using the term “embeddedness” itself, Rüstow and Röpke effectively argued that the economy must be re-­embedded in society. — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists, 286 (#expands, via linked claim)

Despite later characterizations of Karl Polanyi and neoliberals as ideological and methodological opposites, the institutional focus of early neoliberals even suggested the embedding of the economy in a sense reminiscent of Polanyi. Of course, Karl Polanyi argued for different forms of embedding, and early neoliberals were clearly in favor of retaining land, labor, and capital as commodities (the root cause of capitalism’s crisis according to Polanyi), but they were also acutely aware that nation-states were here to stay and that national economies had to be embedded politically and socially to fit in with other national economies on a global economic playing field. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 403 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Holding history against human essence yields a categorical demand for total revolution over reform — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 421; Early neoliberals prefigured Polanyi by demanding the economy be re-embedded in society. — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 286; Early neoliberals shared Polanyi’s conviction that economies must be embedded — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 403 (+1 more)

Related

• Early neoliberals prefigured Polanyi by demanding the economy be re-embedded in society. (similarity 0.87)
• Holding history against human essence yields a categorical demand for total revolution over reform (similarity 0.81)
• Early neoliberals shared Polanyi’s conviction that economies must be embedded (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Holding history against human essence yields a categorical demand for total revolution over reform #expands (0.78) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 421
• Early neoliberals prefigured Polanyi by demanding the economy be re-embedded in society. #expands (0.72) — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists, 286
• Early neoliberals shared Polanyi’s conviction that economies must be embedded #expands (0.72) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 403