A Brief Intoduction to Neoliberal Psychopolitics
On Neoliberal Psychopolitics: Under neoliberalism, power takes on a much more subtle form. It doesn’t lay hold on the bodies of individuals directly. Instead, this form of power ensures that individuals act on the themselves so that power relations are not only internalized and turned into ideology (one’s second nature), but then interpreted as “freedom” by the subject. Under neoliberalism, workers are no longer exploited by a direct class above them, no. Workers voluntarily turn themselves into projects and exploit themselves. This form of power is what Byung-Chul Han calls psychopolitics. Neoliberal psychopolitics take on their material form with the countless self-managemrnt workshops in and outside of work, motivational retreats instead of vacations, and seminars on personality. These are all forms of therapeutic mental training that makes sure the subject takes part in boundless self-optimization (and maximum efficiency). They subject the individual to the objectificatio...
