Neoliberal rationality makes inequality normal and normative in democracy

Evidence

Second, inequality, not equality, is the medium and relation of competing capitals. When we are figured as human capital in all that we do and in every venue, equality ceases to be our presumed natural relation with one another. Thus, equality ceases to be an a priori or fundament of neoliberalized democracy. In legislation, jurisprudence, and the popular imaginary, inequality becomes normal, even normative. A democracy composed of human capital features winners and losers, not equal treatment or equal protection. In this regard, too, the social contract is turning inside out. — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 63

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Provides the theoretical backbone for the ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ moral-panic framework — inequality becoming normative parallels how moral norms get naturalized through regimes of reason, though this is a stretch; more directly it connects to the sacrifice article’s account of how stratified societies naturalize hierarchy.
• XREF: Connects to the rational-choice/equilibrium literature read earlier — where inequality emerges as a stable equilibrium in stratified exchange systems. — connects to: Neoliberals treat inequality as a necessary motor of progress, not a flaw — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 173; Neoliberal economism paradoxically enables neoconservative moral politics. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 17; Neoliberalism’s weakening of democratic values enables neoconservative moralism and authoritarianism — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 169 (+15 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberal development framed egalitarian welfare norms as obstacles to be overcome #exemplifies (0.85) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 409
• Neoliberal rationality reduces the very desire for democracy #expands (0.80) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 398
• Post-communist neoliberalization widens inequality and targets visible minorities as scapegoats #exemplifies (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 913
• Neoliberalism is a normative mode of reason, not merely an economic policy set #expands (0.80) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 80
• Formal political equality masks deep economic servitude that hollows out democracy #corroborates (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 406
• Neoliberalism economizes justice, sovereignty, and the rule of law #expands (0.80) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 32
• Sartre’s least-favoured principle delegitimizes elite rationalizations of inequality #complicates (0.75) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 858
• Democracy is power’s technical character normalized in moral terms #responds-to (0.75) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 745