Running to stay in the same place? Personal development work and the production of neoliberal subjectivity among Israel’s “last republican generation”

Ariel Yankellevich

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter explores the role of new therapeutic technologies such as life coaching in the production of neoliberal subjectivities among Israel’s veteran middle class. Based on 46 interviews with middle-class Israeli coaches born in the 1950s and early 1960s, it shows how the adoption of the entrepreneurial and individualistic ideology of coaching allows members of this generational unit to reposition themselves and come to terms with the decline of Labour Zionism as an all-encompassing master narrative that gave meaning and value to their life trajectories. By adhering to the neoliberal logics of self-appreciation and self-value accrual and embracing entrepreneurial qualities such as flexibility, risk taking and openness to change, they avoid becoming obsolete and ratify their relevance as a national “service elite” in the new Israeli neoliberal order.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSpirituality, Organization and Neoliberalism
Subtitle of host publicationUnderstanding Lived Experiences
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishing Ltd.
Pages27-45
Number of pages19
ISBN (Electronic)9781788973304
ISBN (Print)9781788973298
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Economics, Econometrics and Finance
  • General Business, Management and Accounting
  • General Social Sciences

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