The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making of the Neoliberal Thought Collective, With a New Preface

by Philip Mirowski (Editor), Dieter Plehwe (Editor)

Overview

Although modern neoliberalism was born at the “Colloque Walter Lippmann” in 1938, it only came into its own with the founding of the Mont Pèlerin Society, a partisan “thought collective,” in Vevey, Switzerland, in 1947. Its original membership was made up of transnational economists and intellectuals, including Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, George Stigler, Karl Popper, Michael Polanyi, and Luigi Einaudi. From this small beginning, their ideas spread throughout the world, fostering, among other things, the political platforms of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the Washington Consensus.

The Road from Mont Pèlerin presents the key debates and conflicts that occurred among neoliberal scholars and their political and corporate allies regarding trade unions, development economics, antitrust policies, and the influence of philanthropy. The book captures the depth and complexity of the neoliberal “thought collective” while examining the numerous ways that neoliberal discourse has come to shape the global economy.

“The Road from Mont Pèlerin is indispensable for anyone wishing to gain an understanding of neoliberalism, whether as an end in itself or as a means for constructing alternative, non-neoliberal futures.”
—Daniel Kinderman, Critical Policy Studies

“If you work on post-war history of economics, there is almost no reason not to read this book.”
—Ross B. Emmett, Journal of the History of Economic Thought

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674088344
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	11/16/2015
Edition description:	New
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Philip Mirowski is Carl Koch Professor of Economics and the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame.

Dieter Plehwe is a Senior Fellow at the Social Science Research Centre Berlin.

Table of Contents

Preface Philip Mirowski Dieter Plehwe ix

Introduction Dieter Plehwe 1

Part 1 Origins of National Traditions

1 French Neoliberalism and Its Divisions: From the Colloque Walter Lippmann to the Fifth Republic François Denord 45

2 Liberalism and Neoliberalism in Britain, 1930-1980 Keith Tribe 68

3 Neoliberalism in Germany: Revisiting the Ordoliberal Foundations of the Social Market Economy Ralf Ptak 98

4 The Rise of the Chicago School of Economics and the Birth of Neoliberalism Rob Van Horn Philip Mirowski 139

Part 2 Arguing Our Strategies on Targeted Topics

5 The Neoliberals Confront the Trade Unions Yves Steiner 181

6 Reinventing Monopoly and the Role of Corporations: The Roots of Chicago Law and Economics Rob Van Horn 204

7 The Origins of the Neoliberal Economic Development Discourse Dieter Plehwe 238

8 Business Conservatives and the Mont Pèlerin Society Kim Phillips-Fein 280

Part 3 Mobilization for Action

9 The Influence of Neoliberals in Chile before, during, and after Pinochet Karin Fischer 305

10 Taking Aim at the New International Economic Order Jennifer Bair 347

11 How Neoliberalism Makes Its World: The Urban Property Rights Project in Peru Timothy Mitchell 386

Postface: Defining Neoliberalism Philip Mirowski 427

List of Contributors 457

Index 459

Editorial Reviews

The Road from Mont Pèlerin uncovers and lays bare the origins of one of the most important political phenomena of our time—the development of the neoliberal discourse coalition that has come to shape the modern political economy.

Frank Fischer

This excellent book contributes significantly to our understanding of the origins of neoliberalism and its transformation into political discourse and policy.

Steven Lukes

A fascinating and important book, one that speaks in radical, perceptive, and provocative ways to contemporary debates around neoliberalism.

Jamie Peck

The volume’s contributors make heavy use of original archival materials and make good on the editors’ promise to expose the complexity, nuance and plurality of neoliberal thought—a belief system that has constructed and re-constructed itself and the world… The Road from Mont Pèlerin is indispensable for anyone wishing to gain an understanding of neoliberalism, whether as an end in itself or as a means for constructing alternative, non-neoliberal futures.

Critical Policy Studies - Daniel Kinderman

The Road from Mont Pèlerin reminds us that social movements succeed by drawing in many others who undertake the work that actually drives the movement forward. The book is full of stories of those individuals and related organizations that formed strategies, carried out the logistics and legwork, and brought legislators and others into contact with [Mont Pèlerin Society] ideas. In other words, if you work on post-war history of economics, there is almost no reason not to read this book.

Journal of the History of Economic Thought - Ross B. Emmett

The volume’s contributors make heavy use of original archival materials and make good on the editors’ promise to expose the complexity, nuance and plurality of neoliberal thought—a belief system that has constructed and re-constructed itself and the world… The Road from Mont Pèlerin is indispensable for anyone wishing to gain an understanding of neoliberalism, whether as an end in itself or as a means for constructing alternative, non-neoliberal futures.
-- Daniel Kinderman Critical Policy Studies

The Road from Mont Pèlerin reminds us that social movements succeed by drawing in many others who undertake the work that actually drives the movement forward. The book is full of stories of those individuals and related organizations that formed strategies, carried out the logistics and legwork, and brought legislators and others into contact with [Mont Pèlerin Society] ideas. In other words, if you work on post-war history of economics, there is almost no reason not to read this book.
-- Ross B. Emmett Journal of the History of Economic Thought

The Road from Mont Pèlerin uncovers and lays bare the origins of one of the most important political phenomena of our time—the development of the neoliberal discourse coalition that has come to shape the modern political economy.
-- Frank Fischer, Rutgers University

This excellent book contributes significantly to our understanding of the origins of neoliberalism and its transformation into political discourse and policy.
-- Steven Lukes, New York University

A fascinating and important book, one that speaks in radical, perceptive, and provocative ways to contemporary debates around neoliberalism.
-- Jamie Peck, University of British Columbia

From the Publisher