ABSTRACT
Neo-institutionalism reveals the ideological defeat of liberal universalism. In neo-institutionalism, the confrontation with reality makes policymakers' understanding of the world less analytical, less reductionist, less generalized. In neo-institutional frameworks, there is an inverse relation between empirical investigation and ideological power. Neo-institutional learning disempowers international policymakers. Neo-institutional 'lessons learnt' produce an anarchic anti-knowledge. The neo-liberal critique of modern-universal episteme puts international interveners into an ambivalent position. Neo-institutionalism forces policymakers to accept that they do not have the right kind of agency – that someone with a different episteme has it – and this sobering realization prepares the ground for further policy engagement. Policymakers are only pushed to go 'deeper' because they want to satisfy – through an emphasis on plurality – a set of generalized normative expectations. International policy elites still want to find out how to enable others to generate context-specific, liberally acceptable solutions.
