SELF-DEVELOPMENT AND NEO-LIBERAL GLOBALIZATION: A FOUCAULDIAN DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Abstract

This paper contributes to a better understanding of how neoliberal globalization exacerbated the subjectivity process. While this process is complicated and intertwined, it serves several contradictory roles in a range of social considerations. we explore the increasingly popular discourse of self-development as a neoliberal subjectification tool. We evaluate data from primary sources (In-depth interviews of adults women) which are highly impacted by neoliberalism, using Foucauldian understandings. We outline two interconnected discourses—rationality and autonomy based on our study, illustrating how these discourses shape the neoliberal subject in ways that are consistent with neoliberal governmentality. Within these discourses, there is no discernible opposition to the subject viewpoints given. Self-development discourse strengthens individuality in society while confining group identity. It is providing social control and contributing to the preservation of neoliberal practices in the society.