Neoliberal Capitalism and the Corruption of Society: A Pastoral Political Analysis

Abstract

In this article, I juxtapose religious and neoliberal capitalistic symbol systems to highlight the existential flaws in capitalism and how it undermines community and society. More particularly, I contend that religious (in this article, Judeo-Christian) and religiously inflected humanist symbol systems possess core values of care, community (space of appearances and the common good), and relational justice that ideally order social life, institutions, and subjectivity. I argue that these core values and practices, which are woven into the semiotic web of Judeo-Christian religions, are missing from the complex web of symbols and narratives that undergird neoliberal capitalism. I argue further that when neoliberal capitalism becomes a hegemonic way of organizing society, there is an attending corruption of social care, the common good, and relational justice.