This introduction presents the aim of a collective effort of a book on depoliticisation and repoliticisation. The meaning of the concepts use by the authors is explained referring to two generations of academic debate in political science and sociology, and even through examples concerning the field of education policies. Depoliticisation is a key to understanding the transformations occurring in the relationships between political and non-political actors who take part in the policy processes. Nevertheless, the theoretical debate has some limitations, regarding the limited importance given to the actors of depoliticization strategies and the related processes of politicization of supposedly non-political actors and practices in the context of neoliberalism. Moreover, the Introduction presents the chapters that follow. For each of them the themes focused on and the specific meaning of depoliticization and repoliticisation are sketched.
The paper develops an interpretation of neoliberalism through the analysis of the concept of «human capital». Following Michel Foucault's lectures on La naissance de la biopolitique, in order to put the matter in a clearer historical perspective, in the first part of the paper I explain the basic principles of classical political economy and the biopolitical role of the state in traditional liberal thinking. In the second part I analyse neoliberalism. The theory of «human capital», in particular, let me argue that neoliberalism is not only an economic view, but a theory that claims to explain every kind of human behaviour. Moreover, it emerges that this theory is rooted in a biological interpretation of human nature. In the last part, through the analysis of some historical examples, I examine some consequences of neoliberal biopower. In details, I clarify the new role of the state in such a system of power and the neoliberal strategy to manage human behaviour.
The choice of bio-political plane of immanence - the life and its productivity that is exposed to the capture but always escapes - is the strong point of Deleuze's revolution; it is also the point that Deleuze is forced to think again unceasingly, since it must mark the distance between the neoliberal and the libertarian differentialism he promotes. Deleuze's struggle (then current) is now outdated, against an evanescent fetish. The Oedipus, against which Deleuze moves his joyous war machine, is dissolved by the social explosion of differences, that the same Deleuzian thought invites to "letting be". Against the interpretation (Lazzarato) that leads capitalism to debt, the Value works differently by the Law and refers to the logic of not-All. The market scene, with its crossing of choices, desires, communication proposals, has common features with the Deleuzian ontology. The institutionalist choice of Deleuze engages the pragmatic plan of humean tradition, highlighting once again the relationship with the market.
[ita] Questa ricerca si propone di offrire una ricostruzione complessiva degli aspetti salienti dell'utopia, le cui riflessioni si focalizzano attorno al tentativo di pervenire ad una comprensione non riduttiva dell'universo utopico. L'utopia abbraccia una vasta gamma di ambiti diversi che vanno dall'ideologia alla religione, dalla filosofia sociale, alla filosofia politica e all'economia; rappresenta, dunque, un valido strumento d'indagine per analizzare la pluralità delle diverse dimensioni delle relazioni sociali. Il concetto di utopia, inteso come ricerca di una legge ideale sulla quale fondare le istituzioni sociali, è già presente nel mondo antico, si manifesta nel mondo medievale nella forma millenarista del ritorno di Cristo, per divenire quasi un genere letterario a sé stante nel Rinascimento. Man mano che ci si avvicina ai tempi più recenti le utopie si colorano sempre più di interesse sociale e di progettualità politica. Ai primi interpreti di queste utopie, viene dato generalmente il nome di socialisti utopisti. Nella seconda metà dell'Ottocento iniziano le storie dell'utopia che s'intrecciano — in particolare con Marx ed Engels — con la storia del socialismo. Nel frattempo, lungo il Novecento si assistite ad un drastico cambio di prospettiva il cui bersaglio polemico è l'universo totalitario e i pericoli derivanti dall'uso distorto della scienza e della tecnologia che porterà all'affermazione delle distopie come genere letterario. Gli ultimi decenni, invece, anche a causa della pessimismo della ragione moderna e del pensiero debole, si sono caratterizzati per una crisi ed una sfiducia generalizzata nei confronti della politica da un lato e dall'affermazione dell'ideologia neoliberale dall'altro. In questo periodo, inoltre, l'utopia vive una certa marginalità filosofica e appare incapace di offrire al mondo un orizzonte nuovo. La speranza è riposta nei nuovi movimenti sociali che si stanno dimostrando i più strenui difensori dell'ambiente e dei beni comuni. Gli unici attualmente che, pur tra mille difficoltà, cercano di opporsi all'ideologia mercatista del pensiero unico, e di proporre un'alternativa comunitaria. ; [eng] This research aims to provide a complete reconstruction of the salient aspects of utopia, whose thoughts are focused around the attempt to achieve a non-reductive understanding of the utopian universe. The utopia embraces a wide range of different areas ranging from ideology, religion, social philosophy, political philosophy and economics. Therefore, it represents a useful tool to analyze the plurality of the different dimensions of social relations. The concept of utopia, understood as a search for an ideal law on which to base social institutions, is already present in the ancient world, it manifests itself in the medieval world in the millennialist form of return of Christ, to become almost a literature genre in the Renaissance. As you get closer to more recent times, utopias are increasingly colored of social interest and political planning. The name of utopian socialists is generally given to the first interpreters of these utopias. In the second half of the nineteenth century, especially with Marx and Engels, the utopia stories begin to intertwine with the history of socialism. Instead, along the twentieth century occurs a drastic change of perspective, whose polemical target is the totalitarian universe and the dangers arising from the use of the distorted science and technology that will lead to the affirmation of dystopias as a literary genre. The last decades, however, partly because of the crisis of modern reason and "weak thought", were characterized by a crisis and a generalized distrust of politics on the one hand, and affirmation of neoliberalism ideology on the other. In this period, the utopia lives a sort of philosophical marginality and it seems unable to offer new horizons to the world. The hope is now placed in the new social movements that are proving to be the most strenuous defenders of the environment and public goods. They currently are the only ones who, in spite of thousand difficulties, try to oppose to the "single thought" and to the unbridled competition, and propose a communitarian alternative
The purpose of this article is to reconstruct the philosophical origins of neoliberalism, especially through two great classics of nineteenth and twentieth century thought: Friedrich Nietzsche and Friedrich Hayek.The comparative analysis of some cornerstones of these two thinkers, which in other aspects are very different, aims to demonstrate how contemporary neoliberalism is the result of a long journey in the field of ideas. Yet, both the origins of neoliberalism can be traced to the distant past, as the effects of this economic ideology produce effects in the present time. Present time that is characterized by a pandemic emergency that reveals many points of contact with the foundations of the neoliberal ideology. In short, never as today rethinking Nietzsche and Hayek means understanding the limits and contradictions of a society afflicted by more than one virus. Neoliberalism; Spontaneous order; Innocence of becoming; Nietzsche; Hayek; political philosophy; Covid-19.
In this contribution I will try to relate some of the categories that characterize the philosophical-political reflection of German classical philosophy with some issues related to our contemporaneity and in particular with that set of phenomena that are catalogued under the label of "populism". I move from a brief analysis of populism; then I will try to show how it is a coherent declination of the typically modern way of thinking politics. Therefore, not the intrusion of an anti-modern movement into the folds of the modern political dispositive, but rather one of the possible outcomes of it, perhaps the outcome more consistent with the organization of political institutions that characterizes neoliberal societies. Leaning above all on some Hegelian analyses, I therefore intend to show that what we call populism is one of the derivations of an abstract and intellectualistic way of thinking the State rooted in modern political thought.
This paper is a review of Cesarale's book. The aim of this paper is to discuss the possibility of a political and theoretical radical space outside the framework of the capitalist mode of production. The work of the author depicts a useful political map of the positions of "radical thought".
The article outlines the model of Russian economic policy that emerged on the eve of the 21st century, in the aftermath of the consequential 1998 crisis. That crisis did not challenge the dominant – neoliberal – ideology that reigned in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. But it exacerbated the distributive conflict between the state and the big business, "oligarchy", which eventually resulted in the victory of the state and in establishing a new balance of interests in the Russian establishment. The same crisis induced the government to follow rigorous macroeconomic regulation. The current crisis has not changed the essentially neoliberal nature of economic policy so far. Yet, as is shown in the paper, this crisis indicates at limits to the established model of economic policy. ; L'articolo delinea il modello di politica economica russa emerso alla vigilia del XXI secolo, all'indomani della crisi del 1998. Quella crisi non ha messo in discussione l'ideologia dominante – neoliberista – che regnava in Russia dalla caduta dell'Unione Sovietica. Ma ha esacerbato il conflitto distributivo tra lo stato e le grandi imprese, "l'oligarchia", che alla fine ha portato alla vittoria dello stato e alla definizione di un nuovo equilibrio di interessi nell'establishment russo. La stessa crisi ha indotto il governo a seguire una rigorosa regolamentazione macroeconomica. L'attuale crisi non ha finora modificato la natura essenzialmente neoliberista della politica economica. Tuttavia, come viene mostrato nell'articolo, questa crisi indica i limiti del modello di politica economica stabilito.
For the classics, capitalism and modernity were merged. Indeed, it can be said that sociology originates precisely as a critical analysis of the processes and effects of capitalism. For the founders of the discipline, defining the theoretical and epistemological apparatus of sociology and critically analysing the origins, developments and consequences of capitalist modernity were, therefore, two sides of the same "mission". This volume takes up that mission by updating it and problematising it: by discussing classical contributions in the light of the most recent social transformations; by separating theories, processes and phenomena (from digitalisation to the transformations of work); by extending the scope of the effects of capitalism to a variety of contiguous fields.
While neoliberal policies and their social and political consequences have been widely studied and criticised in the last decades, the historical and theoretical framework of neoliberalism in connection with the liberal tradition as a whole and the more theoretical aspects of its hegemonic construction have received less attention. Even less have been direct, critical discussions of its founders' texts, and only a small amount of these has been conducted in an actually Marxist perspective. A major exception in this sense, especially in Italy, has been the work of Domenico Losurdo. This article builds on Losurdo's discussions, which are scattered but numerous in his work, of Friedrich von Hayek's texts, and tries to employ his method in order to analyse them. The specific aim of this research has been to investigate how Hayek's neoliberalism and his theory of spontaneous evolution are combined with forms of historical revisionism, such as the re-invention of liberal tradition, the rewriting of the history of modern Europe and of modern political thought, the "idyllic" reconstruction of the early industrial capitalism, the equalization of communism and Nazism and their "orientalisation", and the obliteration of colonial history. What emerges from this encounter is a full-fledged philosophy of history, a "neoliberal conception of history", whose elements can still be well recognised in the current public discourse and even in common sense. Losurdo; Hayek; Neoliberalism; Historical Revisionism; Philosophy of History.
While neoliberal policies and their social and political consequences have been widely studied and criticised in the last decades, the historical and theoretical framework of neoliberalism in connection with the liberal tradition as a whole and the more theoretical aspects of its hegemonic construction have received less attention. Even less have been direct, critical discussions of its founders' texts, and only a small amount of these has been conducted in an actually Marxist perspective. A major exceptionin this sense, especially in Italy, has been the work of Domenico Losurdo. This article builds on Losurdo's discussions, which are scattered but numerous in his work, of Friedrich von Hayek's texts, and tries to employ his method in order to analyse them.The specific aim of this research has been to investigate how Hayek's neoliberalism and his theory of spontaneous evolution are combined with forms of historical revisionism, such as the re-invention of liberal tradition, the rewriting of the history of modern Europe and of modern political thought, the "idyllic" reconstruction of the early industrial capitalism, the equalization of communism and Nazism and their "orientalisation", and the obliteration of colonial history. What emerges from this encounter is a full-fledged philosophy of history, a "neoliberal conception of history", whose elements can still be well recognised in the current public discourse and even in common sense.
Questa ricerca si propone di offrire una ricostruzione complessiva degli aspetti salienti dell'utopia, le cui riflessioni si focalizzano attorno al tentativo di pervenire ad una comprensione non riduttiva dell'universo utopico. L'utopia abbraccia una vasta gamma di ambiti diversi che vanno dall'ideologia alla religione, dalla filosofia sociale, alla filosofia politica e all'economia; rappresenta, dunque, un valido strumento d'indagine per analizzare la pluralità delle diverse dimensioni delle relazioni sociali. Il concetto di utopia, inteso come ricerca di una legge ideale sulla quale fondare le istituzioni sociali, è già presente nel mondo antico, si manifesta nel mondo medievale nella forma millenarista del ritorno di Cristo, per divenire quasi un genere letterario a sé stante nel Rinascimento. Man mano che ci si avvicina ai tempi più recenti le utopie si colorano sempre più di interesse sociale e di progettualità politica. Ai primi interpreti di queste utopie, viene dato generalmente il nome di socialisti utopisti. Nella seconda metà dell'Ottocento iniziano le storie dell'utopia che s'intrecciano — in particolare con Marx ed Engels — con la storia del socialismo. Nel frattempo, lungo il Novecento si assistite ad un drastico cambio di prospettiva il cui bersaglio polemico è l'universo totalitario e i pericoli derivanti dall'uso distorto della scienza e della tecnologia che porterà all'affermazione delle distopie come genere letterario. Gli ultimi decenni, invece, anche a causa della pessimismo della ragione moderna e del pensiero debole, si sono caratterizzati per una crisi ed una sfiducia generalizzata nei confronti della politica da un lato e dall'affermazione dell'ideologia neoliberale dall'altro. In questo periodo, inoltre, l'utopia vive una certa marginalità filosofica e appare incapace di offrire al mondo un orizzonte nuovo. La speranza è riposta nei nuovi movimenti sociali che si stanno dimostrando i più strenui difensori dell'ambiente e dei beni comuni. Gli unici attualmente che, pur tra mille ...
The article examines the transformations of the Italian university system in the decade following the approval of the reform law 240 of December 2010. Through a longitudinal perspective, based on data from the Ministry of Education and Universities, the contribution explores the changes that have occurred on the main actors of this system: i.e. the employees working in the Italian Universities and the student population attending the various courses. The results of the analysis highlight a broad and complex redefinition of the political, cultural and economic scenario within which the action of these actors takes place, that is accompanied by the emergence of new social fractures in this system as well as the intensification of other already existing ones. ; L'articolo analizza le trasformazioni del sistema universitario italiano nel decennio successivo all'approvazione della legge di riforma 240 del Dicembre 2010. Attraverso una prospettiva di indagine longitudinale, basata sui dati del Ministero dell'Istruzione e dell'Università, il contributo esplora i cambiamenti intervenuti sui principali attori di questo sistema: vale a dire il personale dipendente che lavora negli Atenei italiani e la popolazione studentesca che frequenta i vari corsi di studio. I risultati dell'analisi mettono in evidenza un'ampia e complessa ridefinizione dello scenario politico, culturale ed economico entro cui si svolge l'azione di questi attori che si accompagna all'emergere di nuove fratture sociali interne al sistema nonché all'intensificarsi di altre già esistenti.
This article analyses the processes of revitalization of "ancestral authorities" in the Ixil Region (Guatemala), which from the protests against a transnational energy project culminated in the creation of the B'oq'ol Q'esal Tenam of Chajul, Nebaj, and Cotzal. Recognized by the Constitutional Court in 2015, the B'oq'ol Q'esal Tenam emerge in a complex and fragmented reality, using the interstitial spaces of neoliberal policies to contest them and give rise to alternative forms of decentralization to those proposed by the national political and institutional system. ; L'articolo analizza i processi di rivitalizzazione delle "autorità ancestrali" nella Regione Ixil (Guatemala), che dalle proteste contro una multinazionale energetica sono culminati nella nascita dei B'oq'ol Q'esal Tenam (Alcaldías Indígenas). Riconosciuti da una sentenza della Corte costituzionale nel 2015, i B'oq'ol Q'esal Tenam emergono in una realtà complessa e frammentata, sfruttando gli spazi interstiziali delle politiche neoliberali per contestarle e dare vita a forme di decentralizzazione alternative a quelle proposte dal sistema politico e istituzionale nazionale.
