ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Foucault’s ideas about the advent of capitalism and neoliberal governmentality, especially in the US. He examines capitalism through the writings of the physiocrats in France, who see the economy as something that must be free of state regulation. American neoliberalism is essentially using the market to govern, with the market seen in neoliberal terms that still emphasize the freedom of the economy. The government no longer need govern: the market itself will do so. Market-driven “truths” and calculations enter into politics; in fact, neoliberalism in the US becomes a sort of permanent critic of the state. Neoliberal governmentality relies on market knowledge and calculations to govern both the population and individual subjects. The neoliberal homo economicus is a subject whose conduct can be shaped by manipulating the gains and losses associated with that conduct. Neoliberal governmentality is the seventh tool for our tool-box.
