A Psychoanalytical Study of the Neoliberal Imaginary
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Beyond limits: a psychoanalytical study of the neoliberal imaginary Carla Lou Andréa Ibled Goldsmiths College, University of London, 2021 PhD in Politics and International Relations Some years ago Hayek said: We need a liberalism that is a living thought. (…) It is up to us to create liberal utopias, to think in a liberal mode, rather than presenting liberalism as a technical alternative for government. Liberalism must be a general style of thought, analysis, and imagination. Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics A Fearghus, A ma famille et aux amis, Sans qui rien de tout cela n’aurait été possible 2 Abstract This thesis intervenes in the debates on the persistence of neoliberalism by examining the psychic and fantasmatic undercurrents of its ideas. To do so, it argues that neoliberalism is not solely an economic theory, but that it also functions as a cultural imaginary. The imaginary is understood here as a frame around which fantasies can be articulated together and given consistence, providing a structuring – but ultimately unsustainable – image of the self and of the social. To develop this idea, the thesis reconceptualises the concept of the ‘imaginary’ via the psychoanalytical work of Jacques Lacan, constructing a political theory of the imaginary that can be used to analyse neoliberal discursive productions. It then applies this conceptual framework to three different corpuses of texts that display and rework neoliberal ideas. These are, firstly, canonical texts of neoliberal economic theory by Friedrich Hayek, Gary Becker, Milton Friedman, Frank Knight and Joseph Schumpeter; secondly, narratives by two contemporary iconic entrepreneurs, Elon Musk and Peter Thiel; thirdly, best-selling memoirs on childhood in poverty by two social critics, Darren McGarvey and J.D. Vance. The thesis thus brings together economic history, psychoanalytical theory and cultural studies. Treating neoliberalism as an imaginary means excavating its metaphysical preconceptions to better denaturalise it. It means analysing how neoliberal representations hail us as subjects by mobilising fantasies of identity formation, of life and death, and of moving beyond limits. The neoliberal imaginary specifically delineates what we, inhabitants of the neoliberal present, should aspire to be and desire. Finally, treating neoliberalism as an imaginary entails attentiveness to its internal dissonances. This approach reveals something profoundly alienating in neoliberal promises, showing how they function as disciplinary apparatuses that differentiate between useful and non-useful lives, leading to the potential sacrifice of the latter and the consecration of all to the ordealic mechanisms of uncertainty. Key words: neoliberalism; imaginary; psychoanalysis; Lacan; Hayek; entrepreneur; addiction 3 Table of contents ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP .................................................................................................................. 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................................................. 6 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 8 PART I: CONCEPTUALISING THE NEOLIBERAL IMAGINARY……………………………………………………. 17 CHAPTER 1. INVESTIGATING THE ‘STRANGE NON-DEATH’ OF NEOLIBERALISM ....................................... 18 CHAPTER 2. TOWARDS A POLITICAL CONCEPT OF THE ‘IMAGINARY’ ....................................................... 49 CHAPTER 3. THE IMAGINARY AS A METHODOLOGICAL TOOL ................................................................... 79 PART II: THE CANONICAL TEXTS OF NEOLIBERAL THEORY ………………..……………………………….. 103 CHAPTER 4. BECOMING THE ‘PARTY OF LIFE’: AN ANALYSIS OF NEOLIBERALISM’S IMAGINARY MARKET ORDER ...................................................................................................................................................... 104 CHAPTER 5. GUTS, ORDEAL AND SACRIFICE: AN ANATOMY OF NEOLIBERALISM’S IMAGINARY MARKET AGENTS .................................................................................................................................................... 135 PART III: SELF-NARRATIONS AND MEMOIRS………………………………………………………………………. 165 CHAPTER 6. ‘FOUNDER AS VICTIM, FOUNDER AS GOD’: THE TWO BODIES OF THE ENTREPRENEUR ..... 166 CHAPTER 7. CHOOSING DEATH AND LETTING DIE: THE ADDICT’S ABJECTION ........................................ 199 AFTERWORD ............................................................................................................................................ 231 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................................... 242 4 Declaration of Authorship I, Carla Ibled, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. 30th November 2020 5 Acknowledgments A PhD is somewhat of a journey, but it becomes a particularly long one when done part-time, over the course of seven years. Needless to say, so many people have participated in the elaboration of this work at a level or another, and whether they know it or not, that it is impossible to all name them here. Firstly, I want to thank my supervisors – Will Davies and James Martin – for their invaluable insights, generous reading, and endless patience, as well as for believing in me in times of doubt. Thank you, Jim, for convincing me to face Lacan (for the better and the worst) and, thank you, Will, for coming on board mid-journey and helping me to bring this boat to harbour. I also want to give special and heartfelt thanks to my heroic team of proof-readers and friends (and my step-dad!): Sahil Dutta, Liam Gavin, Tom Jeffery, Nils Peters, Peter Rees, Fearghus Roulston, Gina Viita and Andrew Walker. I would like to thank those in the Politics department, at Goldsmiths, who have supported me with teaching, particularly Jasna Dragovic-Soso, Rachel Ibreck, Jeremy Larkin, Eskandar Sadeghi and Sanjay Seth. Special thanks to Andrea Mura, for his generous help with psychoanalytical theory. My gratitude also goes to Xavier Fourtou, for reminding me that Lacan is not just in books. My long PhD journey has been interlaced with many lives. Lives too early taken – I dedicate this work to the loving memory of Becky Dykes. New lives we celebrate – Rami Viita and Felix Bennett – and young lives that I had the privilege to see growing up - Zoë, Oscar and Eddie Harris (with a huge thank to their parents, Françoise and Graeme). This PhD journey has taken me across two countries, in a tale of three cities, animated by inspiring friendships beyond limits and borders. In London, a shout to my Lenin Estate comrades, Tom Jeffery and Andrew Walker, for accompanying my thesis’ first (and last) steps, and to Alex Brown, Oscar Broughton and Signe Hansen. Thank you to my amazing friends and colleagues for their unflinching support and solidarity: Sahil Dutta, Tom Henderson, Irving Huerta, Vanessa 6 Lehman, Mabel Meneses Gutierrez, Maya Nguyen, Nils Peter, Peter Rees, Kat Richter, Ekaterina Rozanova, and Nick Taylor. Without forgetting my other team, Manuel Alvarez and Kirsty O’Neil. In Brighton, I want to express all my gratitude and affection to my colleagues of adoption for welcoming me as one of theirs. To Megan Archer, Milan Cater, Lars Cornelissen, Alex Esculapio, Garikoitz Gomez, Struan Gray, Emma Harrison, Lorenza Ippolito, Melayna Lamb, Giovanni Marmont, Kate Newby, Sam O'Connor Perks and Gabriel Wulff. Thanks to my dear Isam Humma, for always appearing from far away and when the least expected but most needed, with words of encouragement and hope (and gin). In Paris, all my love goes to my cheerleaders from ‘prépa’. Thank you to Esméralda Bourouf, Nina Duru, Pierre-Henri Foulon, Timothée Lepoutre, Maguelone Loublier, Louise Pahisa, and Marjorie Verley, for making sure there is always a German Schlager ready for me when I come back. My tale of the three cities would not be complete without mentioning my very own ‘Borromean knots’, the networks of uplifting women I admire and who have steadfastly hold me up for many years. To the eternal ‘trio’ I form, spread over two continents, with my dearest Camille Chavanne and Pauline Chen. To my for-ever Sussex ‘Frenchies’, Delphine Piriou and Amanda Postel. To my personal ‘Fellaaz’, Myriam Berrada. To my wonderful Judith Peterka. To my most brilliant and flamboyant Jennifer Krückeberg, Oz Şahin and Gina Viita. I am eternally grateful for the unconditional love and dedication I have received from my two sets of two parents Nathalie and Liam, Daniel and Diane, who might unfortunately not read these 250 pages written in another language. To my talented and creative siblings Anna, Lucas and Sean, and to the bright future they have in front of them. Last and not least, to my ‘cell-mate’ Fearghus Roulston, my companion on the last four years of this long doctoral journey (including two lockdowns and one quarantine), my most demanding, meticulous and insightful reader and supporter (who, by the end of it, will have read this thesis three times, at the very least), I want to say “merci pour toutes les choses” – et bien plus encore. It is not an exaggeration to say that this work would not have been possible without you. 7 Introduction The last fifteen