The Protestantism of Neoliberalism with Daromir Rudnyckyj (University of Victoria, Canada)
Abstract: In an interview with the Sunday Times two years after her stunning electoral triumph, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher proclaimed “Economics are the method; the object is to change the heart and soul.” This lecture contends that the deployment of religious notion of the soul and Thatcher’s well-documented commitment to neoliberal economic principles are no simple coincidence. Rather, the lecture demonstrates how Protestantism is a critical condition of possibility for the emergence of neoliberalism. Drawing on the insights of Max Weber and Michel Foucault, the lecture demonstrates how both Protestantism and neoliberalism are premised on a common set of formal dispositions and ethical practices. The elective affinity between Protestantism and neoliberalism is evident insofar as both entail the rationalization of a totalizing system, reflexive responsibilization, the rejection of the pastoral function, the assimilation of labor, the compulsion for action in conditions of unknowability, and the economization of power. In so doing the lecture provides greater analytical purchase on and empirical understanding of some of the foundational economic rationalities that have shaped recent world events.
The public lecture is also available virtually via Zoom. For those who want to join the virtual lecture, please send an e-mail before 12 noon on 11th November to Connie Tang (pyt20@cam.ac.uk) for registration.