Reference no: EM133318198

Question

In her work Undoing the Demos, Brown expands upon Foucault's analysis of Neoliberalism: " To speak of the relentless and ubiquitous economization of all features of life by neoliberalism is thus not to claim that neoliberalism literally marketizes all spheres, even as such marketization is certainly one important effect of neoliberalism. Rather the point is that neoliberal rationality disseminates the model of the market to all domains and activities - even where money is not at issue - and configures human beings exhaustively as market actors, always, only, and everywhere as homo oeconomicus" (Brown 31). According to Brown, Neoliberalism is ever-evolving in its modern status. Transcending its original position as a political rationale which favors market-oriented policy making, Neoliberalism has infiltrated societal thinking applying an economic rationale to all human behavior. To Brown, the shifting of paradigms spells the destruction of democratic values, as liberty does conform well to an investment-market based rationale. Principles like equality and democracy are forgotten in pursuit of economic growth within a winner takes all system. This usurping of egalitarian rationale by economic rationale has led to the creation of what Brown calls the homo oeconomicus or "human capital" (Brown 35), this "human capital" is focused purely on an investment-market societal outlook and conceptualizes any form of human success through financial means. Brown also argues that the dissemination of Neoliberal ideals are not through force but through the reformation of fundamental institutions and ideologies: "Neoliberalism governs as sophisticated common sense, a reality principle remaking institutions and human beings everywhere it settles, nestles, and gains affirmation" (Brown 35). Thus to Brown Neoliberalism is the permeation of capital driven economic rationale to all forms of human activity, and specifically political governance.