QUEM TEM MEDO DA DEMOCRACIA?

O MEDO COMO INSTRUMENTO DE DOMINAÇÃO NO NEOLIBERALISMO DIGITAL

Abstract

This article analyzes the contemporary instrumentalization of fear as a tool of political domination, through a critical reinterpretation of Hobbes’ thought in conjunction with the discursive dynamics of neoliberalism and the proliferation of fake news. Based on the premise that fear—once foundational to the modern political order and a legitimizer of sovereign authority—is now reconfigured in contemporary democracies as a mechanism for neutralizing citizen action and shrinking the public sphere, the study aims to understand how neofascist discursive structures, combined with digital informational manipulation devices, produce subjectivities that are averse to political participation. The analysis is grounded in a theoretical-conceptual approach, drawing on classical and contemporary authors from political philosophy, ideological critique, and communication theory, enabling a problematization of depoliticization as a programmed, rather than spontaneous, effect of the system. Rather than ensuring stability, the fear operated within contemporary capitalism fuels anxiety, insecurity, and competitive individualism, converting democracy into a symbolic field of threats. Through a critique of neoliberal governmentality, algorithmic surveillance, and the logic of post-truth, the paper highlights the erosion of collective bonds and public trust, and proposes to conceive democracy not as an institutional given, but as the ongoing construction of political courage in the face of mechanisms of silencing and alienation. Thus, the articulation between fear, discourse, and power proves central to understanding the challenges of democratic development in times of informational crisis and neoliberal hegemony.