Within neoliberalism, one’s theory of markets determines one’s definition of freedom
Evidence
Some members of the Neoliberal Thought Collective, like Milton Friedman, have refused to define it altogether (other than to divorce it from democracy), while others like Friedrich Hayek forge links to thesis 2 by motivating it as an epistemic virtue: “the chief aim of freedom is to provide both the opportunity and the inducement to insure the maximum use of knowledge that an individual can accrue.” As this curious definition illustrates, for neoliberals, what you think a market really is seems to determine your view of what liberty means. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 167
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to Hayek’s knowledge-dispersal epistemology — freedom framed as epistemic, not political. — connects to: Neoliberalism redefines coercion so that no market exchange can ever count as coercive — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 167; Neoliberal ‘freedom’ is internally redefined to mean market autonomy, not political liberty — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 166; Neoliberalism’s social theory is fundamentally epistemological, recoding freedom as instrumental to independent orders (+13 more)
Broader Connections
- Neoliberalism’s social theory is fundamentally epistemological, recoding freedom as instrumental to independent orders
#qualifies(0.82) - Neoliberalism redefined liberty as economic rather than political.
#qualifies(0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 380 - Neoliberals restrict freedom to negative freedom to shield market epistemology from scrutiny
#qualifies(0.78) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 169 - Neoliberal freedom is recoded as negative liberty to protect market supremacy
#qualifies(0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2130 - Neoliberal freedom is confined to market-compatible choices within a predetermined margin
#qualifies(0.72) - Market ideology functions to repress freedom rather than secure it
#complicates(0.72) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 600 - Neoliberal freedom can be a vehicle for governance and domination
#qualifies(0.72) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 153 - Neoliberals conditioned self-government on accepting market discipline
#qualifies(0.72) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 297 - Neoliberal freedom amounts to submission to market sovereignty enforced by price fluctuations
#qualifies(0.70)