The Oxford Handbook of Ordoliberalism

Since the financial crisis of 2008, ordoliberalism emerged from relative obscurity to become one of the crucial terms of analysis across a wide range of academic literatures and public discussion. In fact, it became the main reference for a number of issues, including assessments of the attempted resolution of the Eurozone crisis, arguments about German hegemony in Europe, debates over the future of economic liberalism and controversies about authoritarian liberalism. What is striking about ordoliberalism is its pronounced ambiguity, as some view it as a more refined and potentially progressive variant of neoliberalism, while others cast it as a blueprint for a regime of austerity reigning over a society of competition with only rudimentary democratic institutions. And while ordoliberalism is often portrayed as a quintessentially German tradition, its impact has not been confined to the German context, extending all the way to the unlikely case of China. In short, ordoliberalism is a phenomenon of arguably considerable influence that remains poorly understood, as it is mystified by its proponents and vilified by its critics. The Oxford Handbook of Ordoliberalism contains a selection of chapters written by an international cast of experts on ordoliberalism that aim to elucidate and analyze the latter in all of its many facets. From the intellectual origins and prime exemplars to its main theoretical themes and practical applications up to the most recent debates taking place across a range of disciplines, this volume offers the first comprehensive account of ordoliberalism for the English-speaking world.

Thomas Biebricher, Associate Professor for the History of Economic Governance, Copenhagen Business School,Werner Bonefeld, Professor in Politics, University of York,Peter Nedergaard, Professor of Political Science, University of Copenhagen

Thomas Biebricher received his doctorate in Political Science from the University of Freiburg in 2003. From 2003 to 2009 he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science of the University of Florida in Gainesville. From 2009 to 2012 he was Junior Research Group Director at the Cluster of Excellence 'Normative Orders' at the Goethe University in Frankfurt where he continued to hold various other positions until 2020. In 2014 he spent some months on a research stay at the Institute of European Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Since July 2020 he is Associate Professor for the History of Economic Governance at the Department of Management, Politics, and Philosophy at Copenhagen Business School.

Werner Bonefeld is Professor in Politics at the University of York. Before coming to York, he taught at the Universities of Frankfurt and Edinburgh. His research is in the area of political economy as a critical social theory. His work has contributed to the development of Open Marxism, which integrates early Frankfurt School critical theory and the critique of political economy. He has published about the restructuring of the British State, the global economy, European integration, antisemitism, critical theory and Marx. With Chris O'Kane he is co-editor of the Bloomsbury Series Critical Theory and the Critique of Society.


Peter Nedergaard is professor of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen since 2008. Before that, he was Professor, Associate Professor, and Assistant Professor at Copenhagen Business School. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from University of Aarhus. His research interests are European politics and the political economy of European integration, Nordic cooperation, and international political economy. In relation to this he has analyzed the common agricultural policy, the market integration, Nordic cooperation, employment policy, international trade policy, as well as the administration of EU and Nordic cooperation. He has published extensively in these areas.

Introduction
1. Why a book on Ordoliberalism?, Thomas Biebricher, Werner Bonefeld, and Peter Nedergaard
Part I. Contexts
2. Theoretical context: Ordoliberalism as a new synthesis of earlier German economic thought, Bertram Schefold
3. Historical context of the theoretical formation: Weimar democracy, Weltwirtschaftskrise and the rise of National Socialism, Ralf Ptak
4. Historical Context of Ordoliberalism's Theoretical Development, William Callison
5. Ordoliberalism within the Historical Trajectory of Neoliberalism, Philip Mirowski
6. Ordoliberalism and Conservatism, Thomas Biebricher
Part II. Key thinkers and key texts
7. Walter Eucken: Foundations of Economics, Manuel Wörsdörfer
8. Franz Böhm: Private Law Society and Lessons for our Age, Michelle Everson
9. Wilhelm Röpke: The Social Crisis of Our Time, Raphaël Fèvre
10. Alexander Rüstow: The Failure of Economic Liberalism, Stefan Kolev and Nils Goldschmidt
11. Alfred Müller-Armack: The "State Idea" and the Economic Order - Metamorphoses from 1932 to 1978, Ralf Ptak
12. Leonhard Miksch: "Competition as a Task" in Science, Journalism and Politics, Ralf Ptak
13. Ernst-Joachim Mestmäcker: A vision of European Economic Constitutionalism, Christian Joerges
14. Viktor Vanberg: The Constitution of Markets and Public Choice, Malte Dold
15. Adam Smith: Classical Political Economy and Ordoliberalism, Viktor J. Vanberg
16. Ortega y Gasset: The fear of mass society, Alec Dinnin
17. Carl Schmitt: Decisionism, Renato Cristi
Part III. Political economy
18. Economic Constitution and the State, Klaus Tuori
19. The Economic State and the Ordoliberal Critique of Keynesianism: Anti-economic state or just a different type of economic state?, Dieter Plehwe
20. Rule of Law (Rechtsstaat) and Social Order, Jonathan White
21. The Strong State and "the Taming of Freedom", Ralf Havertz
22. Balancing the World: (De-)centralisation, regionalism, and international organisation in the world economy, Hagen Schulz-Forberg
23. The Social Market Economy and Ordoliberalism - a difficult relationship, Josef Hien
Part IV. Politics
24. The Politics of Order and Law: Ordnungspolitik, Joshua Ratz
25. Politics and the Order of Society, Rune Møller Stahl
26. Politics of Decision-Making: Government by Experts and the Politics of Depoliticisation, Astrid Séville and Sebastian Pieper
27. Myth, Religion, and Social Market Economy, Philip Manow
Part V. Policies
28. Competition Laws and Their Enforcement in theProject of European Integration. An Artefact of Ordoliberal Influence?, Angela Wigger
29. Ordoliberal Economic Policy, Ekkehard A. Köhler
30. Economic Crisis Policy, Harald Hagemann
31. Labour Market Policy, Harald Hagemann
32. Walter Eucken on Currency Matters and Central Banking, Jörg Bibow
33. Vitalpolitik, Stefan Kolev and Nils Goldschmidt
34. Post-War Ordoliberalism, Race, and the Politics of Development, Lars Cornelissen
Part VI. Contemporary issues
35. Ordoliberals on Federalism and Europe, Quinn Slobodian
36. Eurozone Policy and Crisis, Federico Bruno
37. Social Policy in an Entrepreneurial Society, Remi Maier-Rigaud
38. Ordoliberalism as Political Rationality in Foucault's Genealogy of Liberalism, Frieder Vogelmann