BOOK REVIEW: “Noile subiectivități ale capitalismului global. Spiritualitate, dezvoltare personală și transformări neoliberale în România” (“The New Subjectivities of Global capitalism. Spirituality, Personal Development and Neoliberal Transformations in Romania”), Sorin Gog and Anca Simionca (eds.), Cluj-Napoca: Tact, 2020, 206 pages

Abstract

A growing number of Western studies have tried in the last decades to critically reflect upon the social, political and cultural factors behind the rapid expansion of self-help industry, a highly lucrative business with an eclectic offer which ranges from exotic spiritual world-views to more down-to-earth and psychologically informed narratives addressing personal development. According to many of these studies, societal changes brought by neoliberal policies favouring market forces against state regulations or collective interferences can be related with the explosion of a self-help industry often promising to deliver the tools that would allow individuals to adapt to the pressures of a highly competitive environment. Although post-communist Romania is no exception going through the same process of a booming self-help industry and harsh neoliberal policies, very few studies have tried to address this phenomenon. The present book is the first systematic attempt to focus on the Romanian context through the critical lenses provided by this (relatively) new and rapidly expanding field of research.