Neoliberal subjectivity and deconstruction of the commons in the face of the climate and environmental crisis

Abstract

This article discusses neoliberal subjectivity and the consequent deconstruction of the commons, analyzing their effects on the environmental crisis. Neoliberal subjects are the entrepreneurs of themselves, driven by competition in a market characterized by opposed interests. To shape this subjectivity, it was necessary to deconstruct the commons, the basis of the social bond, accused of the tragedy of the collective spontaneity that needs to be emptied. The deconstructive subjectivation of the commons, fed by boundless consumption, is the origin of the environmental crisis. To recover the commons as a solution, it is necessary to overcome the view of an inert and passive nature that must be protected from human intervention, as it is home to intense biogeochemical activity that creates the conditions for the existence of life. The human being is just another actor. The recovery of the commons is determinant for constructing solutions of socio-environmental resilience for the crisis, as these solutions are constituted by collective activities related to the commons.