Conclusion of Part II

Abstract

It has become customary for analysts of the contemporary situation to highlight divisions, hierarchies and differences. These do, without doubt, exist, and hold a prominent place in the analysis provided in this part of the book. But while it would be unreasonable to suggest that the plight facing the groups at the bottom of the socio-economic hierarchy, identity-based hierarchies and nature is identical, it is possible to observe notable intersections. These hierarchies are effectively united, in their difference, by the same logic: the entrenchment of markets giving rise to conducts guided by an economic rationality shot through with the values and interests of the socially dominant. But, as I endeavoured to show, the recognition of this state of affairs is predicated upon an account of the labour of symbolic domination performed by these elites. Only then can the true face of neoliberal domination be identified: as an inherently personal form mediated by neoliberal reforms responsible for upholding an economic, cultural and environmental universe aligned with the values and interests of these elites. In this particular de-fetishizing exercise, competitive and self-interested utility-maximization acts as a symbolically cultivated pretext for adjusting to a world filled with sharp socio-economic and cultural inequalities, as well as environmentally destructive practices.