Wissenschaftliche und wissenschaftspolitische Produktionsweisen im Neoliberalismus.: Beiträge der Mont Pèlerin Society und marktradikaler Think Tanks zur Hegemoniegewinnung und -erhaltung

Employing Gramsci’s concept of hegemony the rise of neoliberalism to the dominant force in the present hegemonic constellation is scrutinized. The origin and development of the Mont Pèlerin Society of right wing liberals around Hayek is traced and the network of think tanks stretching from the British Institute of Economic Affairs to the Heritage Foundation in the U.S. is examined with regard to the working relations of neoliberal discourse coalitions and epistemological communities. The article thus underlines the role ideas play in the struggle to win and to stabilize hegemony in society and stresses the material and organizational basis of the production of powerful ideas. A short discussion of the challenges a new left would have to confront draws lessons from the neoliberal success story

Friedrich Hayek and his visits to Chile

F. A. Hayek took two trips to Chile, the first in 1977, the second in 1981. The visits were controversial. On the first trip he met with General Augusto Pinochet, who had led a coup that overthrew Salvador Allende in 1973. During his 1981 visit, Hayek gave interviews that were published in the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio and in which he discussed authoritarian regimes and the problem of unlimited democracy. After each trip, he complained that the western press had painted an unfair picture of the economic situation under the Pinochet regime. Drawing on archival material, interviews, and past research, we provide a full account of this controversial episode in Hayek’s life