Neoliberalismo e liberdade: impactos nas tessituras da subjetivação

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the psychic and social effects of the autonomization of freedom in the context of contemporary neoliberalism. It departs from the hypothesis that, when converted into individual property and detached from relations of alterity, freedom becomes objectified and gives rise to a narcissistic illusion of omnipotence and self-sufficiency. This process compromises the relational constitution of the ego and weakens civilizational bonds. The guiding research question is: what are the effects of the autonomization of freedom—understood as its objectification and the denial of alterity—on subject formation, civilizational dynamics, and the ethical-social pact? The research articulates three main theoretical fields: psychoanalysis, critical theory, and political philosophy. The first theoretical axis addresses the constitution of the ego and the function of narcissism in subjectivation, based on the following Freudian texts: On Narcissism, Mourning and Melancholia, The Uncanny, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, and The Ego and the Id. These writings support the understanding of the ego as an instance traversed by both drive-related and social demands, constituted through the tension between the affirmation of autonomy and the need for recognition and symbolic inscription in the social bond. The second axis examines neoliberal rationality through the formulations of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek, who conceive freedom as market self-regulation and deny its intersubjective foundation. Drawing on the contributions of Dardot and Laval, neoliberalism is understood as a rationality that produces subjectivities, instituting the ideal of the subject as an “entrepreneur of the self.” In articulation with psychoanalysis, the research mobilizes André Green’s reformulation of the death drive, understood as a force of psychic disinvestment that intensifies narcissistic withdrawal, isolation, and the dissolution of libidinal bonds. Herbert Marcuse’s critical reading, especially in Eros and Civilization, offers valuable insights into how advanced capitalism absorbs desire and freedom into a logic of domination, neutralizing the transformative potential of subjectivity. The notion of “surplus-repression” is central to understanding the subjective effects of neoliberalism as forms of suffering structured around the promise of freedom. The methodological approach is theoretical and conceptual, based on the critical analysis of foundational texts in psychoanalysis and social theory. This research does not aim to offer conclusive answers or solutions but seeks to open a field of critical reflection on the psychic and sociocultural effects of neoliberal freedom. By returning to the Freudian conception of the subject as divided and constituted through alterity, the study proposes a critique of the absolutization of freedom, reaffirming the urgency of conceiving it as a relational, ethical, and collective project.