Neoliberal governance rules the psyche rather than the body
Evidence
According to Deleuze, the disciplinary regime organizes itself as a ‘body’. It is a biopolitical regime. The neoliberal regime, in contrast, seems like a ‘soul’. As such, psychopolitics is its form of government: it is ‘constantly introducing an inexorable rivalry presented as healthy competition … wonderful motivation’. Motivation, projects, competition, optimization and initiative represent features of the psychopolitical technology of domination that constitutes the neoliberal regime. Above all, the snake embodies the guilt and debts (die Schuld, die Schulden) that the neoliberal regime employs as instruments of domination. — Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics, 53
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines psychopolitics as governance of the soul via rivalry, motivation, and optimization, as against biopolitical governance of the body.
- XREF: The guilt/debt pun (Schuld/Schulden) returns at length in Han’s discussion of debt and self-exploitation later in the book; this is the seed of that argument. — connects to: Neoliberal capitalism exploits the psyche rather than the body as its central productive force — Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics: Neoliberalism and New…, 63; Neoliberalism governs through guilt and debt rather than the body — Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics: Neoliberalism and New…, 53; Neoliberalism works best when subjects voluntarily adopt market-logic selves — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 21 (+3 more)
Related
- Neoliberalism governs through guilt and debt rather than the body (similarity 0.95)
- Neoliberal capitalism exploits the psyche rather than the body as its central productive force (similarity 0.88)
- Neoliberal power governs by seduction and anticipation, not by shock or repression (similarity 0.83)
- Neoliberalism exploits the total person, not merely working time (similarity 0.79)
- Neoliberal power exploits the psyche, which biopolitical statistics cannot reach. (similarity 0.79)
- Neoliberal power hides subjugation so completely that subjects believe they are free. (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Neoliberal capitalism exploits the psyche rather than the body as its central productive force
#corroborates(0.95) — Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics, 63 - Neoliberalism governs through guilt and debt rather than the body
#expands(0.80) — Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics, 53 - Neoliberalism decomposed political collectivities through privatising the mind.
#expands(0.80) — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life, 536 - Neoliberalism works best when subjects voluntarily adopt market-logic selves
#expands(0.75) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 21 - Neoliberal power governs by seduction and anticipation, not by shock or repression
#expands(0.70) — Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics, 86