Coffee, Toast and a Tip? Initial Reflections on the Transformation of the Self

Abstract

One of the big issues that undoubtedly requires reflection (and possibly correction) in many families in our ailing left is how human subjectivities have changed shape as a result of capitalist social relations—particularly in the last stage of capitalism, usually referred to as neoliberal capitalism. We tend to think of the “New Man” as a matter of the left, and we remember Karl Marx and Che Guevara. But in fact it is a core issue to neoliberal/cacique-style thought, one that has spread over the past four decades. Margaret Thatcher put it as follows: “Economics are the method; the object is to change the heart and soul” (Sunday Times, 7 May 1988).Christians know that in most cases, in order to be good people, we need to break down and then reconstruct ourselves—they call it conversion. Left-wing militants should not ignore something which is so basic. Here we go again, calling upon a New Man and a New Woman. under orders of (personal and collective) politico-moral self-construction. This chapter examines how we can conceive it now, in the Malthusian “Century of the Great Trial”.