New/Old Forms of Alienation and Resistance Under Advanced Neoliberalism

This session seeks to assess older and newer forms of alienation that co-exist within global neoliberalism today. The three papers address different dimensions of more extreme forms of alienation and social control that characterize a new era of advanced, authoritarian neoliberalism. Using the Critical Theory of (the first generation of) the Frankfurt school (Marcuse and Fromm) as a lens, the papers assess cultural, economic, political and social-psychological forms of alienation under advanced neoliberalism, as well as resistance to them. Different responses to neoliberalism, such as the debate within social movements over horizontalism vs leadership, eco-resistance to neoliberalism, and Indigenous Resurgence will be discussed. A key theme of the panel is that looking at these issues through the lens of Critical Theory can provide Alienation Theory and Research with a framework grounded in a holistic social ontology (ultimately rooted in Marx) that takes into account not only cultural critique or ‘intersectionality’, but capitalism, political-economy and social psychology as well. All badly needed in a critique of alienation under advanced neoliberalism today.