Wartime disruption generated a postwar window of optimism for liberal reconstruction

Evidence

The late 1940s proved to be a unique moment of optimism within a movement that had previously tended to adopt an apocalyptic tone. The trials and restrictions of the preceding de cade had fostered a sense that renewed contacts carried infi nite possibilities, and the prospect of establishing durable institutions inspired a sense of momentum that had remained elusive in the past. The central fi gures appeared to believe that fi nally, after years of broken contacts and projects conceived but left undone, it would be possible to commence the philosophical task they had established for themselves shortly before the onset of war. With all distractions and disruptions concluded, the real work of reconstructing liberalism could begin. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 219

Categorization

• XREF: Supplies the temporal context for the MPS’s actual founding meeting in 1947 — the sense of a clearing after wartime disruption. — connects to: World War II isolation compelled émigré economists to shift from advocacy to survival. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 202; Postwar reconstructionists saw the war’s social gains as a foundation for permanent social justice — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 240; Workers’ wartime indispensability empowered postwar demands to transform the economic system — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 174 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Postwar reconstructionists saw the war’s social gains as a foundation for permanent social justice #corroborates (0.95) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 240
• War had broken laissez-faire’s grip, allowing postwar reconstructionists to repoliticize property and wages #expands (0.90)
• Some postwar thinkers hoped catastrophe would transform human life for good #corroborates (0.85) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 764
• Postwar British reconstructionists gave political goals priority over economic cost #expands (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 181
• Workers’ wartime indispensability empowered postwar demands to transform the economic system #expands (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 174
• Postwar reconstructionists reversed the priority of fiscal economy over political aims #corroborates (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 181