Internalized Neoliberal Ideology and Socio-Economic Precarity: A Qualitative Study on False Consciousness Among the Disadvantaged

Abstract

Drawing on insights of system justification theory, this qualitative study investigates psychological functions of the internalization of neoliberal ideology among socio-economically disadvantaged groups. Interviews with nine individuals in precarious life situations and long-term unemployment confirm that respondents widely endorse neoliberal ideological beliefs related to logics of individualism, instrumentality and competition, which contradict their collective social interests. This includes individualistic explanations for poverty and success, rejection of wealth redistribution, introjected labor market requirements, and internalized inferiority. Reduction of cognitive dissonance and appeasement of epistemic and existential motives, such as simplicity, order, control, and safety, reinforce this self-marginalizing false consciousness. To manage perceived existential threats, hybridizations of market-based and xenophobic themes were endorsed, corresponding with theorizing and observations of an authoritarian and proto-fascist turn of neoliberalism. Psychodynamic functions and implications of internalized neoliberal ideology in reproducing and escalating inequalities, social tensions, and political crises are discussed and avenues for future research explored. KEYWORDS: Neoliberal political-economic ideology, system justification, false consciousness, socio-economic stratification, xenophobia and racism