Neoliberalism’s self-cultivation culture has a dark twin in public spectacles of humiliation

Evidence

Martijn Konings has pointed out that the dark underbelly of the bright shiny neoliberal self is the daily spectacle of the public put-down. Not only must the truly entrepreneurial life embrace the risk and insecurity of a constantly revised self tossed hither and yon by market forces beyond our ken; the fundamental narcissism encouraged by neoliberalism demands that we participate in an active externalization of the experience of insecurity and vulnerability to revaluation. The complement to a culture of celebrity has become therefore the unabashed theater of cruelty, the public spaces where we gaze upon the half-speed car wrecks of the lives of others in the throes of failure, Nascar for the politically challenged. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 372

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s earlier notes on how neoliberal governmentality reshapes the self, echo of the ‘thought collective’ theme running through the book. — connects to: Neoliberalism’s internal contradictions are displaced onto cultural theaters of cruelty — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 366; Neoliberalism replaces class analysis with a cynical catechism of limitless self-transformation — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 332; Degradation of the oppressed strengthens oppressive regimes by breeding self-disgust — Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, 103 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism replaces class analysis with a cynical catechism of limitless self-transformation #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 332
• Degradation of the oppressed strengthens oppressive regimes by breeding self-disgust #expands (0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, 103