Walter Lippmann Colloquium

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Event.png Walter Lippmann Colloquium  Rdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
Date26 August 1938 - 28 August 1938
LocationParis,  France
ParticipantsRaymond Aron, Roger Auboin, Louis Baudin, Marcel Bourgeois, José Castillejo, John Bell Condliffe, Auguste Detœuf, Friedrich Hayek, Michael Angelo Heilperin, Bruce Hopper, Bernard Lavergne, Walter Lippmann, Etienne Mantoux, Robert Marjolin, Louis Marlio, Ernest Mercier, Ludwig von Mises, André Piatier, Michaël Polanyi, Stefan T. Possony, Wilhelm Röpke, Jacques Rueff, Alexander Rüstow, Alfred Schütz, Marcel van Zeeland
PerpetratorsLouis Rougier
DescriptionTwenty-six of the most prominent liberal thinkers attended this a 1938 conference. The aim was to construct a new liberalism as a rejection of collectivism, socialism and laissez-faire liberalism.

The Walter Lippmann Colloquium' (French: Colloque Walter Lippmann) was a meeting of intellectuals and academics that took place in Paris from August 26 to 30, 1938. The American publicist Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) gave the name, and with his work The Good Society, which had been published shortly before, served as the cue for the discussion. Lippmann was on a European tour and attended the meeting at the Institut International de Coopération Intellectuelle at the invitation of the French philosopher Louis Rougier.[1]

In addition to Lippmann and Rougier, numerous representatives of liberal tendencies from Europe and the USA were present who, in view of the economic and political crises in the interwar period, were concerned about the state and continued existence of liberalism as a guiding principle and social system. Those present struggled together to find answers to questions such as unemployment, the rise of totalitarian systems (e.g. in Germany or the Soviet Union) and the appropriate role and opportunities for the state and the markets in shaping public life.

The participants at the meeting disagreed on many points, not least on the name that should be given to their renewed liberal program. As a compromise, the term neoliberalism was ultimately chosen, with the notes from the Colloquium documenting one of the earliest uses of this term.

In 1947, 15 participants in the colloquium founded the Mont Pèlerin Society (MPS) with others in order to convince future generations of economically liberal ideas. In the decades after, the MPS functions as the central hub of neoliberal networks.


 

Known Participants

6 of the 25 of the participants already have pages here:

ParticipantDescription
Raymond AronFrench sociologist who attended 3 Bilderbergs from 1957 to 1966
Roger AuboinManaging director of the Bank for International Settlements between 1938 and 1958.
Walter LippmannA US journalism who coined the phrase "Cold War".
Robert MarjolinFrench economist/civil servant involved in the Marshall Plan and the formation of the European Economic Community.
Stefan Possony
Jacques RueffMont Pelerin Society, 1958 and 1959 Bilderberg
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References

  1. François Bilger, La pensée néolibérale française et l’ordo-libéralisme allemand in Commun Patricia (éd.), L’ordo-libéralisme allemand, Cergy-Pontoise, CIRACC/CICC, 2003.