Neoliberal ‘individual freedom’ tacitly assumes a male breadwinner and unwaged domestic labor.

Evidence

Another way to explain the incoherence is through the gender subordination it tacitly presumes: the individual freedom iterated by neoliberals is not compromised by or in the family because it pertains only to those who freely come and go from them into the domain of market freedom, not those who perform unwaged work or activity within them. The story being told, in other words, is not from the perspective of families as ensembles of generic individuals, but from a social positioning long associated with male heads of households. The stumble, then, occurs precisely because this perspective is disavowed, even as it is assumed. — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 199

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the addendum on sacrifice — unwaged household labor is a hidden subsidy sustaining the market actor, paralleling hidden sacrificial economies. — connects to: The UDHR’s welfare subject was a white male breadwinner, not a universal person — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 184; Neoliberalism’s ultimate ideal self is the autonomous self-made individual — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 430; Neoliberalism redefined liberty as economic rather than political. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 380 (+2 more)
• ADDENDUM: Links to ‘On Sacrifice: The Real Kind, with Corpses’ — the market actor’s freedom is enabled by an obscured, unwaged stratum of domestic labor, structurally parallel to sacrificial economies underpinning political order.

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism’s ultimate ideal self is the autonomous self-made individual #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 430
• Neoliberal freedom can be a vehicle for governance and domination #expands (0.80) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 153
• Neoliberalism redefined liberty as economic rather than political. #qualifies (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 380
• Neoliberal ‘freedom’ is internally redefined to mean market autonomy, not political liberty #qualifies (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 166