Influenciadores digitais e a construção da subjetividade neoliberal: uma análise discursiva

Abstract

Neoliberalism operates as a global rationality that shapes subjectivities and social relations, intensified by digital rationality, which converts data into instruments of control and influence (Dardot & Laval, 2016; Han, 2022). Within this context, digital influencers play a central role in disseminating neoliberal discourse, especially among young audiences in formative stages. This qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive study analyzed content from three Instagram influencers—based in Brazil, the United States, and the United Kingdom—selected through HypeAuditor, each with over 500,000 followers and focused on entrepreneurship. Nine videos were examined using critical discourse analysis. Four analytical categories emerged: entrepreneurial individualism, meritocracy, the transformation of the subject into an “enterprise of the self,” and neoconservative alignment. Findings indicate that these influencers reinforce ideals of financial self-management and individual responsibility while naturalizing social inequalities and obscuring sociopolitical contexts. The study concludes that such discourses foster a financial-accounting subjectivity and present significant challenges for critical and emancipatory educational practices.