Neoliberalism and austerity: The model of economic authoritarianism that marks the affirmation of the contemporary neoliberal project

Abstract

Neoliberalism, in addition to being an economic doctrine, showed an unimaginable potential for remodeling society as a whole, including the subject himself. The neoliberal regime uses several tools to impose its logic, including austerity measures, as if the only way to achieve economic progress, which in reality never comes, is through the reduction of social rights and a reduction in public spending. Thus, the research seeks the answer to the question of to what extent does neoliberalism use the fatalistic discourse of the myth of austerity to impose its logic? The objective is to demonstrate the bases of neoliberal doctrine and how austerity works in the contemporary economic model, in search of an alternative. The research method used is hypothetical-deductive, and the approach method is bibliographic, based on the analysis of works, periodicals and journalistic texts, linked to the theme. The first section of the article will be dedicated to the study of the origins of neoliberalism. In the second section, the ability of neoliberalism to shape politics, society and the subject itself will be studied, and how neoliberalism was able to include suffering in the contemporary way of being. Finally, in the third section, austerity and its mythology will be analyzed, and the way in which it is used as a discourse justifying the deepening of neoliberal precariousness. In effect, austerity is yet another weapon in neoliberalism's arsenal to impose its authoritarian, exploitative and precarious logic, which dictates the contemporary world.