The New Neoliberal Turn in Argentina

Abstract This article examines reconfigurations of neoliberalism as these can be traced in emergent forms of ideological interpellation in Argentina. Privileging an analysis of dominant modes of public discourse, we posit an inextricable relationship between—and simultaneous deployment of—the “punitive” elements of this interpellation and its new, entrepreneurial dimension. This last component, opposed to the first only nominally, exalts individual potency and delivers an “amicable” appeal to a wholesome and reconciled common life. Taking into account the Janus-faced, omnipotent, moralizing, and sacrificial character of this new community of “entrepreneurs cum punishers,” we focus on the idiosyncratic forms that this relationship takes in our current historical conjuncture, distinguishing it from previous inflections and ideological configurations of neoliberalism in contemporary Argentina. Finally, we seek to understand the ethical and political implications of this specific interpellative mode for the process of subject formation.