Wendy Brown Quotes
Wendy Brown is an American political theorist and UPS Foundation Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, whose work has shaped contemporary critical reflection on neoliberalism, sovereignty, and the political theology of the present. States of Injury and Politics Out of History reframed late-twentieth-century identity politics through a Nietzschean and Foucauldian lens, while Walled States, Waning Sovereignty and Undoing the Demos showed how the apparently strong walls of contemporary nation-states are in fact symptoms of weakening sovereignty under economic globalization. The quotes below are attributed to Wendy Brown, organized by topic.
Wendy Brown on Justice
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“Neoliberalism is essentially a form of governing that sees democracy as an obstacle, at best, or as an illegitimate intervention into the rule of the market, at worst. For neoliberalism, rule by markets is understood as a form of governance that should be applied everywhere, not just to marketised goods, but to education, prisons, the organisation of state, and so on. So neoliberalism treats popular sovereignty, or decisions based on human agreement and deliberation, as inappropriate interference with the efficient market and the price mechanism.”
Neoliberalism Has Eviscerated the Fabric of Social Life , interview with Wendy Brown by Adam Ostolski, Green European Journal , March 2017
Wendy Brown on Life
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“Neoliberalism Has Eviscerated the Fabric of Social Life , interview with Wendy Brown by Adam Ostolski, Green European Journal , March 2017”
Neoliberalism is essentially a form of governing that sees democracy as an obstacle, at best, or as an illegitimate intervention into the rule of the market, at worst. For neoliberalism, rule by markets is understood as a form of governance that should be applied everywhere, not just to marketised goods, but to education, prisons, the organisation of state, and so on. So neoliberalism treats popul -
“Neoliberalism Has Eviscerated the Fabric of Social Life , interview with Wendy Brown by Adam Ostolski, Green European Journal , March 2017”
Terrorism conjoins with neoliberalism to heighten a sense of insecurity and even a sense that the nation state now fails to provide for the security of the people. That said, the chances of being killed in a terrorist attack remain very low in the order of possible dangers that a human being can face. A person is more likely to be killed by their own furniture than by a terrorist. So, we have fear
Wendy Brown on Mind
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“One of the reasons — after 40 years of teaching — that I thought “it’s probably time to wrap it up” is that I began to get student evaluations that would say, “you know, she’s a really great lecturer and the materials were good, but there’s nothing else going on. There’s no PowerPoint, there are no videos…” and I realized they wanted a three-ring circus. That’s what they were used to. They were used to splitting attention and a lot going on, a lot of lights and music. [But the] explosion is meant to happen inside your mind — not outside.”
2023
Wendy Brown on Politics
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Attributed to Wendy Brown:
“Neoliberalism is the political form in which homo oeconomicus comes to displace homo politicus.”
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Attributed to Wendy Brown:
“Walls are built where sovereignty is felt to be slipping.”
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Attributed to Wendy Brown:
“Identity is haunted by the historical wounds it cannot quite name.”
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Attributed to Wendy Brown:
“Politics out of history is politics that has not yet found the courage to look back.”
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Attributed to Wendy Brown:
“Democracy survives only as long as we are willing to rule and to be ruled in turn.”