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Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 23:2 (2024) ► pp.155–175

Mass identifications and mythical violence

Neoliberal mechanisms of subjectivation in the crisis interregnum

ORCID logo | University of Buenos Aires – CONICET

Whoever intends to answer the question about how collective identities are articulated today in capitalist societies cannot ignore the task of conceptually and empirically articulating two differentiated issues: on the one hand, the anomic situations of disintegration, in which the individualizing logic of neoliberal ideology takes center stage; on the other, the emergence of new phenomena of social authoritarianism in different strata where the psycho-affective dynamics of community identifications become especially relevant. In this article I will analyze the mechanisms of communitarian subjectivation deployed by neoliberalism in the time of its crisis. For this purpose, I examine some oral narratives extracted from a qualitative study of Argentine society, in which the interlocutors thread hypotheses about issues of public significance such as social inequality, the role of the State in our crisis context and the rights of immigrants.

Keywords: neoliberalism, crisis, ideology, subjectivation, authoritarian violence
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Systemic disintegration and social entropy
  • 3.“Theft of enjoyment”
  • 4.The mass of narcissists and the need for punishment
  • 5.Profits from cruelty
  • 6.Final words
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 2 November 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22029.pre
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