The Strong State and ‘The Taming of Freedom’

Bibliographic Data

ID23601674
AuthorsRalf Havertz (0000-0003-2232-1350, Keimyung University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Pages306-319
Publication date2022-10-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueOxford Handbook of Ordoliberalism (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198861201.013.20
OpenAlexW4307744081
ISBN9780198861201
LanguageEN
References cited13

This chapter focuses on the Ordoliberal strong state and its theoretical conception as a precondition of free economy. It gives a brief account of the classical Ordoliberal notion of free economy with its focus on ‘complete competition’ and the establishment of an economic order. This is followed by an analysis of the Ordoliberal argument for the strong state, which reflects on the position of the state vis-à-vis the economy. It examines the Ordoliberals’ critique of mass democracy and their call for ‘a dictatorship within the boundaries of democracy’ and shows that there is a communality between this argument and Carl Schmitt’s concept of the political. This chapter, furthermore, assesses the connection between Ordoliberal governmentality and the depoliticisation of society which is focused on the generation of self-responsible entrepreneurs. It concludes with considerations about the authoritarian elements in Ordoliberal thought.

Argument (complex analysis) · Authoritarianism · Competition (biology) · Democracy · Dictatorship · Economic system · Economics · Governmentality · Liberal democracy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science) · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Political Economy and Marxism · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory

Tools

Open DOILibgen