Neo-liberal subjectivities and the emergence of spiritual entrepreneurship: An analysis of spiritual development programs in contemporary Romania

Abstract

This article analyzes the changes in industrial relations and labor market in Romania during the past two decades and explores the neo-liberal socialization devices that have emerged after the financial crisis and the way they offer legitimacy to the vast economic transformations that took place in this region. Using the ‘varieties of capitalism’ approach I investigate the specific forms of dis-embedded neoliberalism institutionalized in Romania and the precarisation of the workforce through labor market de-regulations, short-term contracts and emphasis on the flexibility and employability of workers. The article focuses on the outburst of spiritual development programs and the vast field of alternative spiritualities that haves proliferated in Romania and the way this cultural change mediates the formation of an immanent spiritualized ethics of authenticity that lends itself to the creation of a new ‘spirit of capitalism’ (Boltanski and Chiapello, 2007).

Support for Prostitution Legalization in Romania: Individual, Household, and Socio-cultural Determinants

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The Banality as a Mood of Contemporary Society in Contrast to the Artist's Mood

“…The peculiarity lies in its influence being such that even the deepest affective structure of humanity has transformed to adopt a particular form coherent with the model. This understanding horizon has contaminated both the ephemeral and the profound, traversing the entirety of life experience, to the extent that escape from this relationship, or what was once considered sacred, seems impossible (Gog, 2020).…”

İhti̇yat Ve Cazi̇be İki̇lemi̇nde Türki̇ye’de Spi̇ri̇tüel Erkekli̇kler

“…İlgili literatürdeÖzyeğin'in (2015),Seven'in (2016) veTuksal'ın (2004) erkeklik ve dindarlık ilişkisine değinen çalışmaları mevcut; ancak bu çalışmalar spiritüellikle ilgili değiller. Bununla birlikte Türk'ün (2015) "Tuhaf Bir Hikâye: Adnan Hoca ve Toplumsal Cinsiyet Temsilleri", Yolcu'nun (2012) "Koryak ve Çukçi Şamanlığında Transvestizm" ve Deniz'in (2008) "Dersim Alevilik Mitleri ve Erkeklik Kurguları" adlı makaleleri yine doğrudan spiritüellikle ilgili olmasa da bu çalışma ile birlikte düşünülebilecek metinlerdir.9 Spiritüel hareketler ve yeni dinsellik biçimleri ile neo-liberalizmin ilişkisini biri Romanya diğeri Türkiye/İstanbul örneğinde tartışan çok yetkin iki çalışma için bkz Gog (2020),Erkmen (2021)…”