Elements for a genealogy of neoliberal cruelty: governmentality, post-Fordism, original accumulation and coloniality

Abstract

This paper arises from two concerns. One is the need to update and complex the Foucaultian diagnosis on contemporary forms of governmentality. The other is the need to carry out this update in a situated way. We will develop our argument in three parts. First, we start by recognizing the importance of the “grid of governmentality” in the field of studies on neoliberalism. Second, we interrogate the difficulties of this grid to provide a comprehensive diagnosis of current neoliberalism. Finally, we propose to bring together other perspectives to understand neoliberalism not just as a form of governance, but also as a mutation in production and work, as a continuation of the original accumulation (and its violent and patriarchal character), and last, as a post-colonial reorganization of capitalism.From this framework we try to make visible the invisible traces of gender, class, race and sexuality that mark the figure of the “Entrepreneur of the Self”.