Neoliberalism and human capital in Foucault

Abstract

The article addresses the analysis made by Foucault about American neoliberalism, highlighting the theory of human capital. For Foucault, neoliberalism implies an important epistemological change in the field of political economy, which fails to consider homo œconomicus as a worker, the partner in the exchange relationship between boss and employee, and starts to consider him as an entrepreneur of himself, a subject who owns and manages his own capital, which is composed of his competencies. Based on this, the human capital theory proposes a series of incentive and disincentive mechanisms, which make effective the exercise of the government of individuals, both by States and companies and by individuals themselves. The notion of human capital is thus an instrument of self-government. Form of governmentality useful and advantageous to capital, as well as to governments, neoliberalism is not, however, able to promote life in its full, strong and potent sense.