The new neoliberal turn in Argentina: Omnipotence, the sacrificial mandate, and the craving for punishment

Abstract

This article examinesreconfigurations of neoliberalism asthese can be traced in emergent forms of ideological interpellation in Argentina. Privileging an analysis of dominant modes of public discourse, we posit an inextricable relationship between—and simultaneous deployment of—the “punitive” elements of thisinterpellation and its new, entrepreneurial dimension. Thislastcomponent, opposed to the first only nominally, exalts individual potency and delivers an “amicable” appeal to a wholesome and reconciled common life. Taking into account the Janus-faced, omnipotent, moralizing, and sacrificialcharacter of this new community of “entrepreneurscum punishers,” we focus on the idiosyncratic forms that this relationship takes in our current historical conjuncture, distinguishing it from previousinflections and ideologicalconfigurations of neoliberalism in contemporary Argentina. Finally, we seek to understand the ethical and political implications of this specific interpellative mode for the process ofsubject formation.