Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Istinye International Interdisciplinary Academic Studies Congress, İstanbul, Türkiye, 8 - 09 Mart 2026, cilt.1, sa.1, ss.1, (Özet Bildiri)
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEOLIBERAL SUBJECT ON THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE STAGE
Yağmur Sevim PARİM SAĞLAM
ABSTRACT
Neoliberalism is a comprehensive regime of governance that not only defines an economic and political order but also produces new forms of subjectivity through ideals, norms, and care practices. The neoliberal normative order aims to produce subjects with characteristics such as being healthy, self-governing, entrepreneurial, confessional, happy, compliant, resilient, responsible, flexible, and developable, under the banner of neoliberal rationality. In this regard, it naturalizes inequality; it depoliticizes pain by aestheticizing it; it defines structural problems as personal shortcomings and difficulties; it moralizes failure; it views unhappiness as a lack of effort. It labels individuals who cannot conform to this normative order as irresponsible, lazy, and unmanageable. Structures such as job market-oriented courses, personal development, and the coaching industry can function as mechanisms that play a role in the production of neoliberal subjectivity. While the neoliberal normative order operates through ideals of self- management and happiness, the production of the neoliberal subject operates through practices of confession, conformity, and care that make subjects self-manageable. In this vein, the study examines the play Yalnızlar Kulübü, written and directed by Sami Berat Marçalı, which staged the ten-week journey of a personal development course with the motto “Now take a deep breath and let go. Come on, everyone! Find your life rhythm” in 2018, within the context of neoliberal subject production techniques. The tensions, ruptures, and moments of discord that emerge within the courses internal dynamics reveal the limits and cracks in neoliberal subject construction. In this context, Yalnızlar Kulübü exposes how the neoliberal normative order operates while also revealing the extent to which the subjects relationship with this order is fragile and open to negotiation.
Keywords: Neoliberalism, Care Practices, Contemporary Theatre