Atlas / Comparisons / Classical Marxism vs Neoliberalism
Classical Marxism and Neoliberalism
Measured distance across six axes
Opposed programmes with little shared ground. They agree within three points on SC. They diverge by eight points or more on EC, CH.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Scientific socialism | Mont Pèlerin, Chicago | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | −10 | +09 | 19 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | −06 | +01 | 7 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +02 | −02 | 4 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +04 | +02 | 2 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| ID · Rule of membership | −09 | −02 | 7 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +08 | −02 | 10 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
Scientific socialism · EC −10
At the floor: abolition of private property in the means of production.
- Programme textThe Manifesto states the theory of the communists in a single sentence: abolition of private property.
Mont Pèlerin, Chicago · EC +09
Far market pole on doctrine, with the important caveat that most named exponents rejected pure laissez-faire.
- Programme textThe 1947 Mont Pèlerin statement of aims defends the market order and also the rule of law and a competitive framework.
Scientific socialism · CH +08
Coded +8: forcible overthrow named as the method.
- Programme textThe Manifesto closes by declaring that the aims can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions.
Mont Pèlerin, Chicago · CH −02
Coded mildly incremental in doctrine, with a record of implementation by shock.
- ScholarshipRapid liberalisation programmes in Chile, Bolivia and post-communist Europe were designed as deliberate discontinuities.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
Classical Marxism
1848–1914 · Germany, Europe
History driven by class struggle; capitalism generates its own gravediggers; proletarian revolution abolishes classes and eventually the state.
Neoliberalism
1947– · International
Market competition as the organising principle of policy, insulated from democratic interference by rules and independent institutions.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
Open in the atlas