The Free Market between Constitutionalism and Dictatorship: on the Adaptation and Radicalization of Friedrich von Hayek’s Thought in Argentina

Abstract:The essay aims to reconstruct the early dissemination of neoliberal ideas in Argentina, particularly focusing on the thought of Friedrich A. von Hayek between 1955 and 1983. It argues that outside the regions where this theory was originally conceived, namely Europe and United States, its conservative and authoritarian core was accentuated and radicalized by both Western and Argentine neoliberal intellectuals. Specifically, on the one hand, Hayek’s thought was interpreted in continuity with the Argentine liberal-conservative tradition and used to validate and restore its most elitist and anti-democratic aspects. On the other hand, it was adopted to oppose Peronism, developmentalism, and socialism as well as to justify, dictatorial regimes tasked with temporarily restoring the conditions for a free-market society. The first part of the essay, therefore, examines the institutions, think tanks, and journals that allowed the initial circulation of neoliberal ideas in Argentina, illustrating how they were adapted to the local context. While the second part analyzes Hayek’s visits to Argentina and the content of his lectures, the last part examines how Hayek’s thought was interpreted by Álvaro Alsogaray, Carlos Sanchez Sañudo, and Alberto Benegas Lynch, shedding light on how they reinforced and pushed its conservative and authoritarian nucleus to its extreme consequences.