The Formation of Subjectivity in Neoliberalism. Contemporary Trends: Exhibition of Intimacy, Social Media, and Social and Emotional Learning

Abstract

This paper explores contemporary trends that exert a strong influence on the formation of subjectivity. These dynamics unfold within the framework of neoliberal rationality, which constructs and strengthens a highly emotionalized and individualizing contemporary ethos. We address behaviors such as the exhibition of intimacy through smartphones, the promotion of visibility on social media, and the exacerbation of self-importance. Additionally, we examine how these patterns extend to other areas of social life, particularly education, through the spread of social and emotional learning initiatives. Framed within a political-pedagogical lens, these trends raise questions, tensions, warnings, and concerns that we aim to develop throughout the text.