Neuroscience in the Cultural Landscape of Late Capitalism

Abstract

In recent decades, starting from the 1990s, the “new brain sciences” have established an interdisciplinary field of knowledge related to higher nervous activity and brain structure in neurophysiological, cognitive, and psychological senses. This field has not only become a vanguard in the development of scientific knowledge but has also penetrated a wide range of narratives, from neuromarketing to mass psychology and the popular blogosphere in the so-called self-help sphere. The study of human behavior from the perspective of neuroscience has become one of the leading areas of scientific research, not least because understanding the reasons for decision-making in the context of the growing importance of the market economy has become a “gold mine” for those whose economic success directly depends on the capitalization of consumer attention. This article is dedicated to the incorporation of neuroscience research into economic practice, through which the type of economic person, dubbed the “entrepreneur of oneself” by French researcher Michel Foucault, is formed. The article will examine the reasons, conditions, and factors contributing to the close relationship between the landscape of the market economy and neuroscience research, which has become an unwitting companion to the obsession with increasing efficiency, with a focus on the leading role of “human capital”. The main goal is to understand the mutual influence of neoliberal ideology in its anthropological perspective and neuroscience research, offering both new discoveries and ways to address the tasks and challenges posed to modern humans by the cultural and social environment of late capitalism.