The Perils of Radical Subjectivity

Abstract

Robert Antonio’s association of authoritarian ethno-racial nationalism with neoliberal adventure capitalism, and the broader matter of how neoliberal democratization opens the way to rightwing populism and illiberal capitalism (Antonio 2019, 280), seem particularly pertinent. The recourse to Hayek’s political theory to explain the neoliberal roots of populism (Antonio 2019, 287-8) allows for a better understanding of the political, philosophical and ideological ideals that encompass the economic nature of neoliberalism. While I do not wish to contend with Antonio’s thesis and argumentative strategy, and while I fully acknowledge the complex relationships between populism, democracy and neoliberalism (some of these analyzed in the article; see e.g. Hayek’s eulogy of the ‘cultural and spiritual freedom’ of certain autocracies (Antonio 2019, 287)), I do wish to suggest that neoliberal radical subjectivity and conservatism provide a basis for new arguments regarding the relationship between authoritarian ethno-racial nationalism and neoliberal adventure capitalism. More specifically, while agreeing that neoliberal democratization opens the way to rightwing populism and illiberal capitalism, I would like to develop the claim that neoliberalism’s defense of radical subjectivity stirs up populist, racist and nationalistic tendencies in society