Neoliberalism now governs through soft power and common sense, not force

Evidence

How does the distinctive form of reason that is neoliberalism become a governing rationality saturating the practices of ordinary institutions and discourses of everyday life? While neoliberal policy was often imposed through fiat and force in the 1970s and 1980s, neoliberalization in the Euro-Atlantic world today is more often enacted through specific techniques of governance, through best practices and legal tweaks, in short, through “soft power” drawing on consensus and buy-in, than through violence, dictatorial command, or even overt political platforms. Neoliberalism governs as sophisticated common sense, a reality principle remaking institutions and human beings everywhere it settles, nestles, and gains affirmation. Of course, there are dust-ups, including protests and political altercations with police, over the privatization of public goods, union busting, benefits reductions, public-service cuts, and more. But neoliberalization is generally more termitelike than lionlike … its mode of reason boring in capillary fashion into the trunks and branches of workplaces, schools, public agencies, social and political discourse, and above all, the subject. — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 58

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the contested claim that neoliberalism operates as a governing rationality (soft power, capillary bore) rather than as policy or force.
• XREF: Connects to Foucault’s notion of governmentality and to the earlier social capital reading; the ‘termite’ metaphor parallels how power saturates everyday lifeworlds rather than commanding from above. — connects to: Best practices exemplify neoliberal governance’s soft power and antipolitics — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s…, 262; Neoliberalism governs as a normative form of reason, not ideology or material force. — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s…, 219; Neoliberal freedom can be a vehicle for governance and domination — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s…, 153 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism governs as a normative form of reason, not ideology or material force. #corroborates (0.90) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 219
• Neoliberalism is a normative mode of reason, not merely an economic policy set #corroborates (0.88) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 80
• Best practices exemplify neoliberal governance’s soft power and antipolitics #exemplifies (0.85) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 262
• Neoliberalism is a governing rationality, not just economic policy or ideology. #corroborates (0.82) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 14
• Neoliberal freedom can be a vehicle for governance and domination #expands (0.80) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 153
• Common sense is a key route to hegemonic power in democracies #expands (0.80)
• Broader neoliberal shifts enabled austerity’s return to economic common sense #exemplifies (0.78) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 406