Neoliberalism and the hegemony of affections

politics, identify and the democratic threshold

Abstract

The present work arguably operates that the triumph of neoliberalism lies in its hegemonic ability to channel political and social passions to consumption, a skill that is realized from the great ability to adapt to different political contexts, economic and social that neoliberalism has. Thus, the analysis present in this work assumes that affections are fundamental to politics and that convergence around a common symbolic space is essential for the hegemony of an ideology. Thus, neoliberalism is triumphant in establishing itself as a hegemonic project in the West against the neoliberalization of affects. However, its ideology implies the fragmentation of collective identities led by the individualist project of American identity, abandoning otherness and interpersonal relations, essential to the dimension of politics. This process is thus accompanied by political exodus, a scenario that is allied to the process in which the current left is unable to mobilize social passions and respond to neoliberal problems. As a result, anti-establishment movements emerge that, although they have not yet crossed the boundaries of democracy, flirt with authoritarianism. The work seeks, thus, to understand how politics, identity and the limits of democracy are operated in the face of the neoliberalization of affects.