Therapeutic Ethics and The Spirit Of Neoliberalism – Reflections on Contemporary Research of Therapy Culture And Self-Help Culture In Post-Yugoslav Societies

Abstract

Therapy culture, in its various manifestations, is a relatively established field of study and has been so for decades in European and American social sciences and humanities. However, this field is apparently yet to develop in the countries of ex-Yugoslavia, and the Balkans in general. Therefore, our presentation will take the form of a metasynthesis of existing research on therapy culture and self-help culture in the countries of ex-Yugoslavia. We will show that since this field of study is still in its infancy in the region, the research is highly empirically oriented. Therefore, we will point to the lack of a substantive theoretical conceptualization as a factor that is keeping the research of therapy culture and self-help culture in these countries from forming as a distinct field of study. In the second part of our presentation, we will present a theoretical framework based on the “governmentality approach” as a way of conceptualizing therapy culture and self-help culture and their place in post-socialist contexts. We will claim that this way therapy culture and self-help culture can be understood as creating a new “ethos” (Foucault) or a new “structure of feeling” (Williams) that contributes to the neoliberal transition of ex-Yugoslav countries.