A pandemic in the neoliberal era: psychosocial implications in the lives of Brazilian slum dwellers

Abstract

Favelas and peripheries, for presenting high demographic density, become favorable sites for the proliferation of the coronavirus in an era guided by neoliberalism: by a project that creates modes of government and subjectivation. Thus, this article problematized the neoliberal agenda during the Covid-19 pandemic and discussed the psychosocial implications caused in the lives of peripheralized people. We searched for publications of a scientific, journalistic, and autobiographical narrative nature. The platforms used were: Google News and Google Scholar. The material was collected between the months of April and May 2022. The analysis of the data was guided by the perspective of the primacy of the object studied in the Critical Theory of Society. Understanding how neoliberal reason operates and adapts itself in the midst of crises contributes to the construction of a critical horizon about social reality. We believe that the effects of Covid-19 are even more harmful in unequal and racist societies.