Neoliberal Research Articles

Art and sustenance in the work of Sara Baume

ABSTRACT The question of what role literature and art may play has become all the more urgent amidst the present intersectional crisis. This article discusses the oeuvre of author and visual artist Sara Baume which invites engagement with central aspects of this crisis: humanity’s impact on nature and the resulting climate change, and the effects of neoliberal capitalism. Discussing Baume’s three novels (Spill Simmer Falter Wither, A Line Made by Walking, and Seven Steeples) together with her non-fictional narrative Handiwork and the performance piece “The Alphabet of Birds,” the essay argues that while it might be justified to approach Baume’s work as poignant critique of the Anthropocene and its attendant ecological and spiritual devastation, it distinctly transcends such instrumentalist critical paradigms. Stoically lyrical about nature interlaced with variegated detritus, and using protagonists positioned on the margins of society, Baume offers an extended meditation on the role of art at the time of crisis and the possibilities of drawing sustenance from artistic creation. As such, Baume’s work engagingly illustrates what Derek Attridge has termed the “singularity” of literature and art, resisting predetermined agendas (including those vitally beneficial) and providing a repeatable opportunity for a potentially risky encounter with alterity.

The House Always Wins: Gambling as a Veblenian Social Practice

The unequal distribution of economic rewards under capitalism requires institutions that perpetuate “enabling myths” which justify the distribution as fair or natural. In this article, we argue that the rise in popularity of sports betting in the United States reflects an increasing reliance of neoliberal capitalism on one particular enabling myth: the belief in luck. Thorstein Veblen’s writing in The Theory of the Leisure Class suggests the belief in luck as a “minor myth” that helps sustain the grand marginalist myth at the heart of neoliberal capitalism: the myth of meritocracy. The belief in luck provides an alternative rationalization for unfavorable economic outcomes when meritocracy breaks down. Rather than resulting from systemic or individual failures incompatible with meritocratic logic, the belief in luck ascribes negative economic outcomes to an otherwise teleological or supernatural force. Gambling in general—and sports betting in particular—constitutes a Veblenian social practice that serves to inculcate the belief in luck, thereby aiding in the naturalization and justification of economic inequalities.

To sit quietly by oneself: on neoliberal capitalism’s ‘unprecedented inner loneliness’

Building upon Max Weber’s insightful critique of the capitalist spirit as causing ‘unprecedented inner loneliness’, this article traces the trajectory of a fraught subjectivity over the course of a socioeconomic order from the Protestant Reformation to the present. Beginning with the premise that this socioeconomic order has a long history of both inviting and foreclosing upon the capacity to have an inner life, the general argument is pursued that grappling with one’s separateness, as well as the separateness of the object, gives rise to an inevitable sense of loneliness. This psychoanalytically informed sense of loneliness is juxtaposed with the gnawing loneliness that seems to haunt neoliberal subjectivity, revealing how the former might provide an imperfect but still viable antidote to our increasing inability to sit quietly by ourselves. Particular focus is given to re-evaluating Winnicott’s notion of the capacity to be alone in light of cultivating a separate self. The article concludes with some tentative thoughts on what suffering a separate self might entail, including suffering one’s inevitable loneliness.

Towards the progressive network-system: a normative theory of organisation to achieve disruption in times of crisis

This article introduces the progressive network-system as a normative and descriptive theory of counter-hegemonic organisation. It is descriptive insofar as the inspiration comes from a new wave of anti-austerity leaders, movements and parties that have been less dogmatically committed to ‘horizontal’ or ‘vertical’ models of organising, and more open to flexibly combining tactics and strategies from either tradition. In summary, the ‘network’ connects supporters and activists into clusters of dissent; the ‘system’ structures them into organisational ecologies; and the ‘progressive’ ideology establishes cohesion and direction by cementing a sense of unity across the network-system. It is normative because we theorise progressive network-systems as dynamic forms of organisation dedicated to the disruption of extractive exploitation, patriarchal sexism, institutionalised racism and autocratic politics under neoliberal capitalism. We formulate six normative propositions that should inspire any progressive network-system: ideology as a cement; ‘minimal-maximalism’ as an ideological mode to enable pluralism within unity; a flexible distribution of nodes across the network; a common platform; strategic democratic planning; and empowered activism with open/distributed leadership.

Planetary rural geographies: Towards a research agenda

This author reply responds to the commentaries on our article, ‘Planetary rural geographies’, exploring intersections with neo-Marxist political economy, post-colonialism, and digital geographies. The critiques raise questions about the portrayal of rural spaces as sources of planetary crises. We emphasize the intention of the planetary rural geographies framework to avoid a simplistic rural – urban dichotomy and argue for a nuanced understanding of planetary crises. Our response delves into the role of agency in a neoliberal capitalist context, incorporating post-humanist perspectives. It also examines the complex relationship between rural populism, conflicts, and planetary crises. Planetary rural geographies seek to integrate diverse perspectives as a research agenda, acknowledging the need for empirical tools to translate theoretical insights into meaningful interventions for just, equitable transitions.

Responsibilization and Retraditionalization: How Neoliberal Logics Reproduce Gender Inequities Among Women Community Organizers in Chicago

Neoliberal capitalism creates a “crisis of care” in which social reproduction—though necessary for society—is undermined by stripping away support for caregivers, who are disproportionately women. “Social reproduction” refers to the reproduction and maintenance of the labor force via childbirth, child rearing, and caregiving for loved ones more generally. This interpretive phenomenological study examines how a crisis of care manifests for women in the workplace. Drawing upon in-depth, semistructured interviews with Chicago-based women who work as community organizers, our findings demonstrate that sexism in the workplace, coupled with the gendering of care work, creates unique difficulties for these women. By integrating the work of feminist critical theorists who argue that neoliberal logics produce gendered impacts, particularly due to processes they call responsibilization and retraditionalization, our findings help explain why and how gender subordination and gendered divisions of labor persist, even in organizations with a professed commitment to social justice.

Neoliberal Economy and Inequalization: The Experience of Underprivileged Global Regions during 1985-2008

Neoliberal Economy and Inequalization: The Experience of Underprivileged Global Regions during 1985-2008

Give Your Life to the Economy: Death Management and Neoliberalism in the Brazil of the Pandemic – A Secondary Publication

This essay is a reflection on how the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has re-edited and updated the old mechanisms of neoliberalism and the management of death in Brazil. We discussed the imperatives and messages repeated since March 2020 in the media that transmit a false idea of freedom of choice concerning individual protection, while the State, reinforcing the neoliberal ideology and producing feelings of failure, guilt, and fear materially leaves a large part of the population unprotected. Then, we articulated notions about neoliberalism and the lack of social protection on how death management has been conducted during the pandemic. Finally, we reflected on the possibility of weather insurgency and promoted the idea that the established solidarity networks are expressions of solidarity and class identity based on what resembles us as humans.

Explicating collegiality and change management in neoliberalism during the dynamics of higher education institutions

Background This paper discusses the lack of references that comprehensively describe the changes in universities owing to the ideology of neoliberalism. This research also discusses how a university maintains its function and identity when the great wave of neoliberalism massively erodes collegiality as the original philosophy of the university through a case study of the neoliberalism ideology on higher education. This study also provides a comprehensive framework for higher education management and governance changes. Methods We selected all retrieved sources based on the keywords and analyzed all the documents we obtained. This study obtained data from Scopus retrieved on October 27, 2023, using the following keywords: (TITLE-ABS-KEY ("collegiality") OR TITLE-ABS-KEY ("change management") OR TITLE-ABS-KEY ("neolibelism")) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ("higher education"). This study utilized bibliometric analysis to ensure a structured review of the literature on collegiality, change management, and neoliberalism in higher education. Results The findings show that organizational management, leadership, education, technology, curriculum, innovation, organizational change, decision-making, and human beings are significant trajectories of neoliberalism in higher education. Conclusions This study offers other constructs for accelerating leadership success in higher education. This relates to how change leadership can navigate changes resulting from neoliberal ideology.

Practice of Patriotism, Ethnocentrism, Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism in India: An Interrogation

The central concern of this paper is to examine intersectionalities between the ideals of cosmopolitanism, patriotism, ethnocentrism and nationalism in general, and their changing facets and interfaces in India. It argues that being a multiethnic and plural society, the civilisational ethos of India is conventionally founded on cosmopolitanism. The practice of patriotism and its accommodative principle of unity in diversity have provided the building blocks to this cosmopolitanism. During India’s independence struggle these ideals encountered the forces of modernism, ethnocentrism, communalism and ethno-nationalism. In contemporary India the forces of economic neoliberalism, developmental imbalances and persisting social and economic inequalities, post modernism, hyper modernism, populism, and cultural politics have become part of social reality. Notwithstanding the prevalence of the ideals of cosmopolitanism and civilisational interactive processes, these encounters have brought cumulative fluidity in the social, economic and political orientations in contemporary society, and have created further space for the influence of ethnocentrism and cultural politics as a means to remain rooted in society.

Conflicts within the neoliberal state? The limited representation of renters in Israeli housing policies and debates

Following housing protests in 2011, Israeli politicians advanced a program to create a massive supply of rental housing and enact new rental regulations. A few years later, the focus shifted to a program that encouraged homeownership. We analyze newspapers’ coverage of this process, and the representation of actors, location and of social, spatial, and physical themes. We investigate whether, and how, the discourse reflected or challenged the prevalence of property interests and the neoliberal ideology. Our findings show that despite early tensions and debates, throughout the process, renters and their issues received limited representation, while the discourse highlighted market means and images, and the population that could buy and invest. Eventually, the media interest in the program was replaced by fascination with homeownership and investments. In this vein, rentiership – the option to become owner-investors – was highlighted as the state’s popular solution for the housing crisis. We conclude that in this context, rental reforms are unlikely to garner significant social support.

The Political Economy of Digital Health Equity: Structural Analysis.

Digital technologies have produced many innovations in care delivery and enabled continuity of care for many people when in-person care was impossible. However, a growing body of research suggests that digital health can also exacerbate health inequities for those excluded from its benefits for reasons of cost, digital literacy, and structural discrimination related to characteristics such as age, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. In this paper, we draw on a political economy perspective to examine structural barriers to progress in advancing digital health equity at the policy level. Considering the incentive structures and investments of powerful actors in the field, we outline how characteristics of neoliberal capitalism in Western contexts produce and sustain digital health inequities by describing 6 structural challenges to the effort to promote health equity through digital health, as follows: (1) the revenue-first incentives of technology corporations, (2) the influence of venture capital, (3) inequitable access to the internet and digital devices, (4) underinvestment in digital health literacy, (5) uncertainty about future reimbursement of digital health, and (6) justified mistrust of digital health. Building on these important challenges, we propose future immediate and long-term directions for work to support meaningful change for digital health equity.

Representation of Neoliberal Individualistic Practices in Social Structure: "Sorry, We Missed You" Film Example

We are witnessing the establishment of practices referred to as "new individualism" in the realm of contemporary neoliberal ideology and culture. The societal manifestation of these new individualistic practices is also reflected in media content. Media functions as a mirror for societal and cultural practices, reflecting the ideological and cultural landscape.
 This study analyses the values of new individualistic practices reflected in the film "Sorry We Missed You" from a Western culture-centred perspective. The film " Sorry We Missed You" has been chosen as the research subject due to its examination of Western neoliberal-associated cultural values and related lifestyle practices. The aim is to uncover the realm of values that pertain to new Western individualistic practices within the film.

Constructing the 'New Worker-Self': Discursive Strategies in 'English Works!' Program brochures within the Pakistani Education System

In the context of globalization, the emergence of the "new worker-self" archetype has gained attention, with English proficiency playing a crucial role in Pakistan's socio-economic landscape. This study examines the 'English Works!' program brochures using Foucauldian theory to understand the construction of the "new worker-self" narrative and its alignment with global discourses. Through discursive strategies like student testimonials and skills emphasis, the brochures promote individual agency and market-oriented skills. However, this focus on skills may overlook structural inequalities and broader educational goals, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to education. The study contributes to understanding the interplay of neoliberal ideologies, skills acquisition, and subjectivities in the global labor market.

‘Being bilingual will open doors for them’: Ideologies informing French immersion educators’ perspectives on bilingualism

Purpose: New Brunswick, Canada, established its English-French Official Languages Act (OLA) in 1969 to promote linguistic equality for historically minoritized Francophones, premised on a language-as-right ideology. The OLA has been presented to Anglophones, however, as creating access to English-French bilingualism for various kinds of capital through a neoliberal language-as-resource ideology. In this context of conflicting ideologies, we wondered about the perspective of French immersion (FI) educators – the interface between policy and practice – regarding the purposes of bilingualism. We frame our question within Bakhtin’s notion of ideological becoming, asking: As potential mediators of their students’ ideological becoming, what are the perspectives of FI teachers and principals regarding the purposes of bilingualism? Design/data: We examine nine principals’ and 17 FI teachers’ discourse in semi-structured interviews conducted in New Brunswick. Data were analysed using constructivist grounded theory procedures, and further categorized according to Bourdieu’s constructs of capital. Findings: Our analysis indicates the dialogic nature of ideological becoming. On the one hand, authoritative neoliberal ideologies dominate the educators’ discourse regarding the purposes of bilingualism for their students. There was little attention to a socially-situated view of bilingualism enacted in a variety of communities of practice. On the other hand, we also note evidence of resistance against and distancing from this dominant ideology in educators’ own ideological becoming regarding bilingualism’s purposes for themselves. Originality: Bakhtin’s theory of ideological becoming provides a way to consider the entangled workings of ideology within language education for both educators and students. Implications: We thus propose professional development for educators to understand their own ideological becoming and develop students’ ideological becoming and their identities as bi/multilingual speakers.

Pınar BEDİRHANOGLU, Çağlar DÖLEK, Funda HÜLAGÜ and Özlem KAYGUSUZ (Eds.), Turkey’s New State in the Making: Transformations in Legality, Economy, and Coercion (London, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020)

Turkey’s political history has seen recurring shifts between democratic ideals and authoritarian tendencies, notably during the two decades of the Justice and Development Party’s (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) rule. This transition marked a departure from a relatively democratic façade that emerged in response to the European Union (EU) accession process towards a more authoritarian regime characterized by increased government control and curtailment of civil liberties. It is a shift accentuated after the 2013 Gezi protests which culminated in a significant regime change in 2018. This transformation was marked by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s consolidation of power through constitutional amendments, leading to the transition from a parliamentary democracy to a presidential system. To comprehend this transformation, it is imperative to examine the interplay between economic dynamics and the state within the neo-liberal capitalist system, aligning with Poulantzas’ observations on global trends. It can be argued that the accumulation and state crises, exacerbated by the 2008 global economic crisis, have contributed to Turkey’s authoritarian shift in parallel with global developments.

Beyond the neoliberal label: A historical perspective on sexual actors and responsibility in HIV prevention in England (1986-2023).

Framed across three distinct periods of the history of neoliberalism and the HIV epidemic in England, this article conducts a detailed examination of the concept of personal responsibility and its contested uses within HIV prevention. The article questions the theoretical potential of neoliberal subjectivities to comprehend behaviours related to the pharmaceuticalised governance (or lack thereof) of gay men's sexual health, exploring the gap between theories emphasising individual responsibility and the practical experiences of gay men. The analysis draws on testimonials from gay men in oral history interviews and archival sources. The article illustrates how the pervasive notion of personal responsibility in England has been co-opted by neoliberal ideologies, leading to the stigmatisation of gay men whose sexual behaviours diverge from public health mandates. The widespread stigmatisation resulting from this ideology underscores a significant limitation in the theoretical framework of neoliberal subjectivities. This constraint extends beyond merely failing to grasp the complexity of sexual behaviours; it also reflects a lack of understanding of any other behaviour related to public health. Therefore, the article concludes by advocating the necessity of employing and constructing alternative theoretical frameworks to comprehend the pharmaceutical governance or lack thereof of gay men's sexual health. Through a concise autoethnography of the authors' pharmaceutical sexual health governance, the article introduces the concept of biocommesuration as an illustrative analysis that transcends the limitations of neoliberal subjectivities.

Mindfulness in education: Critical debates and pragmatic considerations

AbstractMindfulness has all but become a mainstay in modern education. Yet despite the incredible enthusiasm and increased application in schools, there remains significant divergence between advocates and critics. Advocates assert that mindfulness practice promotes individual and societal health and well‐being. Meanwhile, critics question the intention and the social and political implications of promoting these ancient practices in schools, arguing that the Buddhist ethics underlying mindfulness remain incompatible with the neoliberal ideology and instrumentalism of contemporary schooling. As mindfulness has been commodified, instrumentalised and used as a therapeutic tool for acute coping, its broader potential for human growth and development may be undermined. Furthermore, scholars caution that the fledging nature of mindfulness research leaves critical questions unanswered, especially the potential for adverse effects. The work herein examines these critiques, presenting three critical considerations for mindfulness in education, and articulates practical recommendations for educational leaders, policy makers and stakeholders. We aim to empower educators and others to make judgements about the promotion and integration of mindfulness into educational settings, considering context‐specific factors such as developmental needs and capacities, as well as recommendations to support effective and ethical practice of mindfulness in education.

“It all comes back to self-control?”: Unpacking the Discourse of Anti-corruption Education in Indonesia

Contemporary educational studies on anti-corruption have largely been underpinned by the conception of corruption as a moral problem. Consequently, anti-corruption curricula were mainly developed around instilling the correct moral orientations, characters, or decisions in individuals. The current study departs from such theoretical approaches by critically deconstructing dominant discourses constituting anti-corruption education in an underrepresented yet highly relevant setting: Indonesia, a country deemed one of the most corrupt globally. Analyzing Indonesian anti-corruption educational policies, learning modules, textbooks, and other relevant anti-corruption campaign materials, the current study unearthed two dominant discourses in Indonesian anti-corruption education materials. The first is a discourse of neoliberalism, and the second is a discourse of individual morality and heroism. We discuss these findings in relation to the ways Western-originated agendas of rationalism, neoliberal capitalism, and individualism have become the central organizing principles through which anti-corruption educational praxis is imagined and enacted in the Global South. We propose that Indonesian anti-corruption education might find benefits in adopting critical and decolonial approaches to corruption and education more broadly.

Living with the impact agenda – humanities academics negotiating and resisting the impact agenda as researchers and doctoral supervisors

PurposeIn Denmark, there has been, over decades, an intensified political focus on how humanities research and doctoral education contribute to society. In this vein, the notion of impact has become a central part of the academic language, often associated with terms like use, effects and outputs, stemming from neoliberal ideologies. The purpose of this paper is to explore how humanities academics are living with the impact agenda, as both experienced researchers and as doctoral supervisors educating the next generation of researchers in this post-pandemic era. Specifically, the authors are interested in the supervisor-researcher relationship, that is, the relationship between how the supervisors navigate the impact agenda as researchers and then the way they tell their doctoral students to do likewise.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have studied how the impact agenda is accommodated by humanities academics through a series of qualitative interviews with humanities researchers and humanities PhD supervisors, encompassing questions of how they are living with the expectation of impact and how it is embedded in their university and departmental context.FindingsThe study shows that there is no link between how the supervisors navigate the impact agenda in relation to their own research work and then the way they tell their doctoral students to approach it. Within the space of their own research, the supervisors engage in resistance practices towards the impact agenda in terms of minimal compliance, rejection or resignation, whereas in the space of supervision, the impact agenda is re-inscribed to embody other understandings. The supervisors want to protect their students from this agenda, especially in the knowledge that many of them are not going to stay in academia due to limited researcher career possibilities. Furthermore, the paper reveals a new understanding of the impact agenda as having a relational quality, and in two ways. One is through a positional struggle, the reshaping of power relations, between universities (or academics) and society (or the state and the market); the other is as a phenomenon very much lived among academics themselves, including between supervisors and their doctoral students within the institutional context.Originality/valueThis study opens up the impact agenda, showing what it means to be a humanities academic living with the effects of the impact agenda and trying to navigate this. The study is mapping and tracking out the many different meanings and variations of impact in all its volatility for academics concerned about it. In current, post-pandemic times, when manifold expectations are directed towards research and doctoral education, it is important to know more about how these expectations affect and are dealt with by those who are expected to commit to them.