ABSTRACT

What is referred to as “neoliberalism” is often understood as a regime of emotional governance restricting, controlling and excluding emotions. Building a comparative framework between fragments of early “neoliberal” philosophical thought and critical work on current manifestations of neoliberal governance, the aim of this chapter is to track how interdiscursivities between neoliberal economics and socio-political practices largely rely on emotional and affective articulations that cannot be theorised in a singular way. The focus will be on the neoliberal project pursued in Greece as partly reflected in Greek bank advertising during the crucial years of imposed austerity policies and resistances, 2009–2016. Employing critical approaches to discourse analysis, this chapter will problematise the “negative” hypothesis of emotional exclusion and critically approach emotional and affective strategies of a culturally specific neoliberal governmentality.