It is easier to imagine the end of the world rather than the end of capitalism because neoliberalism resolves the crisis of legitimation of late capitalism through the projection of capitalist death drive and the interpellation of the subject as sacrificial victim. The myth of the end and the “war on climate change” metaphor are key instances of this interpellation. In both, the possibility of an apocalyptic end and large-scale violence is interpreted as an opportunity to recover what neoliberalism has destroyed: the sense of ontological security through salvation and the sense of community through collective sacrifice. The Doomsday Clock and the “war on climate change” metaphor participate in the neoliberal subversion of democratic subjectivity through the interpellation of the subject as a sacrificial victim, mystifying and obscuring the role of this ideology in the destruction of our social and natural environments. A critical approach to political communication is useful to understand neoliberalism’s response to the legitimation crisis of late capitalism, to engage with the collective fear and anxieties of neoliberal interpellation, to reveal the manipulative potential of this myth, and ultimately to restore the possibility to imagine the end of capitalism, rather than the end of the world.
Matteo Stocchetti (Sat,) studied this question.