Cosmopolitans in the European Periphery

The Rise of a Modern, Norwegian Libertarian Movement, 1980-2008

Resumé

While there have been studies, albeit few, treating the rise of neoliberalism in Norway, the parallel rise of a Norwegian libertarian movement, intersecting with the former in many aspects, has received less attention. Through a social network analysis (Plehwe) of this movement and a morphological language analysis (Freeden) of select actors’ intellectual output, this article shifts the focus from large-scale structural changes to individual actors. I argue that that the Norwegian Progress Party’s youth wing functioned as a hub for young, liberally inclined intellectuals in the 1980s and early 1990s, painting a drastic contrast to the present guise of this party.