Dossier Presentation: Neoliberal Rationality and Contemporary Processes of Subjectivation

Abstract

In this dossier, we gather theoretical and empirical studies on neoliberal rationality and current processes of subjectivation. To introduce it, we initially discuss the rise of the term “neoliberalism” and highlight the predominant forms of its critical analysis (economicist, neomarxist and bourdieusian approaches and the studies of governmentality). Then, mainly through studies of governmentality, we present the intellectual origin of neoliberalism and its historical concretization, to show how it became a rationality that establishes specific processes of subjectivation. In this sense, we underline the thesis that competition and performance, typical of contemporary subjectivation based on the enterprise model, constitute a global norm in different spheres, from states to subjectivities. Finally, we present the contributions of Brazilian and foreign researchers selected for the dossier.

Keywords

• processes of subjectivation
• neoliberal rationality
• neoliberalism