Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Meisam Ghahreman ¹
• Hadi Keshavarz ²

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Historical Studies, Islamic Revolution Professor Center, Tehran, Iran.

² PhD, Department of Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Problem Statement and Background
Neoliberal capitalism has generally been interpreted through what may be called a transcendental or epistemological logic. Within this framework, concepts such as human rights, freedom, private property, democracy, class conflict, and individual autonomy are considered the foundational categories through which neoliberalism is explained and criticized. Most traditional analyses seek to establish causal relationships between these transcendental concepts and the expansion of capitalist relations. In this sense, neoliberalism is often represented as an ideological system grounded in universal principles and normative assumptions. However, such interpretations frequently overlook the operational and functional dimensions of neoliberal power. They tend to focus on representation and ideology rather than on the practical mechanisms through which neoliberal capitalism governs societies and produces subjects.
In contrast, strategic logic provides a different analytical perspective. Instead of asking what neoliberalism represents at the epistemological level, strategic logic investigates how neoliberalism functions within networks of power and institutions. This approach is based on an immanent understanding of existence in which social realities emerge from relations of forces rather than transcendental truths. Consequently, the primary concern becomes the production of subjectivities, experiences, and social behaviors. Strategic logic examines how discourse formations, institutions, and governance practices shape individuals and regulate populations in ways that sustain capitalist accumulation and social order.
Existing literature on neoliberalism has largely emphasized ideological critiques or economic analyses of free-market capitalism. Comparatively less attention has been devoted to the strategic mechanisms through which neoliberal capitalism reorganizes civil society, transforms resistance, and governs everyday life. This research addresses this theoretical gap by focusing on governance mechanisms embedded in neoliberal institutions and discourses. Through this perspective, neoliberalism is understood not merely as an economic doctrine but as a complex system of power that continuously produces and reproduces social relations, forms of knowledge, and modes of subjectivity.
 
Research Objective
The main objective of this research is to identify and analyze the governance mechanisms of neoliberal capitalism from the perspective of strategic logic. More specifically, the study seeks to explain how neoliberalism governs societies through institutional arrangements, discursive practices, and mechanisms of subject formation. The research aims to move beyond transcendental explanations and demonstrate how neoliberal capitalism strategically transforms resistance, regulates populations, and expands capitalist relations globally.
Another important objective is to clarify the relationship between governance mechanisms and the reproduction of capitalist social relations. The study investigates how neoliberalism produces economically efficient subjects and how disciplinary, security, and civil-society mechanisms contribute to the continuity of free-market order. By identifying the interconnected mechanisms of neoliberal governance, the research attempts to provide a comprehensive understanding of contemporary capitalist power structures.
Research Methodology
This study adopts a theoretical and analytical methodology grounded in strategic logic and discourse analysis. Rather than relying on normative or transcendental categories, the research focuses on the functional dimensions of neoliberal governance. Institutional arrangements, discourse statements, and practices of power are analyzed in order to understand how neoliberal capitalism organizes social life and produces subjectivities.
The research examines governance mechanisms as interconnected components of a broader neoliberal strategy. Through a conceptual analysis of discourse formations and institutional practices, the study explores the operational logic of neoliberal capitalism. The analysis draws on perspectives related to biopolitics, disciplinary power, and security mechanisms in order to explain how neoliberalism regulates populations and organizes capitalist circulation. Instead of evaluating neoliberalism from a moral or ideological standpoint, the study investigates the strategic functions performed by different governance mechanisms within capitalist societies.
Research Findings
The findings of the study indicate that neoliberal capitalism operates through four interconnected governance mechanisms that must be understood relationally rather than independently.
The first mechanism is the principle of “live dangerously.” This mechanism involves the removal of transcendental concepts and epistemic systems as central elements of governance. By weakening prior forms of knowledge and universal epistemological foundations, neoliberalism redirects governance toward economic productivity and market rationality. In this framework, uncertainty, insecurity, and risk become essential conditions for the operation of free-market capitalism. The governance of society is therefore no longer grounded in stable moral or epistemological principles but in the management of economic competition and productivity.
The second mechanism is the “NGO-ization” of social and collective activities. Through this process, neoliberal capitalism transforms political resistance into manageable social demands within civil society. Instead of directly confronting state power, social movements become institutionalized through NGOs and civil organizations. As a result, resistance loses its revolutionary dimension and becomes integrated into the neoliberal system as a regulated and commodified activity. NGO outputs, whether material or symbolic, are presented as commodities within the logic of supply and demand. This mechanism not only neutralizes radical opposition but also contributes to the expansion of capitalism into different regions of the world.
The NGO-ization process also disconnects populations from direct political engagement with governments. Consequently, governance alternatives themselves become commodified products circulating within civil society. Even critical and leftist discourses are transformed into consumable intellectual commodities. This condition facilitates the expansion of neoliberal capitalism while enabling the exploitation of natural and primary resources through the seemingly humanitarian activities of international NGOs.
The third mechanism involves disciplinary power. Neoliberal capitalism continuously produces and reproduces specific subject positions that allow disciplinary policies to regulate everyday life. Within transcendental logic, phenomena such as criminality may be interpreted through moral or medical categories. However, strategic logic reveals that delinquency serves important functions within capitalist systems. Criminality contributes both to the circulation of capital and to the expansion of disciplinary institutions and practices. Thus, disciplinary governance becomes an essential mechanism for maintaining social order and economic productivity.
The fourth mechanism consists of security and biopolitical governance. Since the nineteenth century, modern societies have increasingly been understood as social bodies constantly exposed to risks, diseases, and dangers. Neoliberal capitalism utilizes these conditions to regulate populations through security mechanisms and differential vulnerabilities. Threats related to health, crime, and social instability generate new forms of capital circulation while justifying extensive forms of social regulation. Through biopolitical strategies, neoliberal governance seeks to produce healthy, productive, and economically efficient subjects whose lives remain compatible with free-market relations. Differential policies aimed at managing risks and vulnerabilities simultaneously increase the diversification and expansion of capitalist accumulation.
Conclusion
The study concludes that neoliberal capitalism cannot be adequately understood solely through transcendental or epistemological categories such as freedom, rights, or private property. Instead, neoliberalism operates primarily through strategic governance mechanisms embedded within institutions, discourses, and everyday practices. These mechanisms collectively transform resistance into commodified demands, regulate populations through disciplinary and security systems, and sustain the global expansion of capitalist relations.
Strategic logic therefore provides a more comprehensive framework for understanding neoliberal governance because it focuses on the operational functions of power rather than merely its ideological representations. Neoliberal capitalism emerges as a dynamic system that continuously produces subjects, organizes risks, commodifies alternatives, and expands capital circulation through interconnected mechanisms of governance. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for critically analyzing contemporary forms of power and the transformation of social and political life under neoliberalism.

Keywords

• Strategic logic
• Transcendental logic
• Governance mechanisms
• Neoliberal capitalism
• Free market

Main Subjects

• The State