Neoliberalism reflated the autonomous individual to break social democratic collectivism

Evidence

To break out of this impasse, we need to abandon the belief in the autonomous individual that has been at the heart, not only of neoliberalism, but of the whole liberal tradition. In a successful attempt to break with social democratic and socialist collectivism, neoliberalism invested massive ideological effort into reflating this conception of the individual, with its supporting dramaturgy of choice and responsibility. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1944

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the critique in Hall’s work and the essential-essays material on Thatcherite enterprise individualism displacing collectivist frameworks. — connects to: Neoliberalism continuously polices individualism to prevent collectivity — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1725; Neoliberalism’s ultimate ideal self is the autonomous self-made individual — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 430; Neoliberalism abolishes classes, the individual, and Lockean property in one move — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 164 (+13 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism’s ultimate ideal self is the autonomous self-made individual #corroborates (0.90) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 430
• Neoliberalism continuously polices individualism to prevent collectivity #corroborates (0.88) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1725
• Neoliberalism decomposed political collectivities through privatising the mind. #expands (0.87) — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life, 536
• Neoliberalism exists to reverse modernity’s claims to self-determination #contradicts (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 116
• Neoliberalism works best when subjects voluntarily adopt market-logic selves #corroborates (0.84) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 21
• Self-help ideology has become the spontaneous ideology of the neoliberal era #exemplifies (0.82) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1502
• Neoliberal individualism is replacing group-based identity politics across society #expands (0.80) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 199
• Neoliberals conditioned self-government on accepting market discipline #qualifies (0.80) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 297
• Neoliberal welfare collapse makes self-image production the individual’s job #expands (0.79) — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 95
• Neoliberalism abolishes classes, the individual, and Lockean property in one move #complicates (0.78) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 164
• Neoliberalism’s weakening of democratic values enables neoconservative moralism and authoritarianism #expands (0.78) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 169
• Neoliberals redefine freedom as something to be limited and detached from democracy #qualifies (0.77) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 119
• Neoliberalism absorbed countercultural self-fashioning into self-optimization via the neurochemical self #expands (0.76) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 421
• Neoliberalism replaces labor with human capital and dissolves the stable self #complicates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 162
• Neoliberal choice confines people to versions of past selves; paternalism enables new selves #complicates (0.74) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 599