Die aktuelle Logik der Welt Wie wir regiert werden

Abstract

In order to understand what governs the behaviour of individuals and the collective in modern times a good starting point is the specific form of power that Foucault refers to as “pastoral power”. From church to state, it reveals the double aspect of the modern subject as a sujet and self-conscious individual.
The subject is not defined by authenticity and identity, it is governed by specific power structures. The same holds especially true for the (neo)liberal concept of the “free” subject that autonomously and self-determinedly lives life as a sequence of infinite projects driven by the permanent need for optimisation. The subject is thus subjected to the dominance structures of the current paradigm – culturally hegemonic capitalism – which will be explored based on analyses by Ulrich Bröckling, Eva Illouz, and Hartmut Rosa.