Psychedelic Therapies as Resistance to Neoliberalism: A Brazilian Schizoanalytical Perspective

Abstract

Psychedelic‐assisted therapies can be intertwined with the forces of neoliberal rationality, reductionist psychiatry, biomedical psychopharmacology, individualized models of subjectivity and fascism. Through a genealogical and critical review, this study seeks to demonstrate how the ongoing ‘psychedelic renaissance’ and its current medicalization of psychedelics may reinforce historical discourses and practices of psychiatry as technobiopower. Despite important critiques emerging in this field, the ‘psychedelic renaissance’ appears to overlook valuable contributions that French and Brazilian philosophers and psychoanalysts can offer. By incorporating analytics of desire into these productions, the humanities field of psychedelics could deepen the understanding of contemporary links between psychology, capitalism and psychedelics. Therefore, we explore the micropolitics regarding diagnostics, the contemporary malaise and some political forces driving the movement. The paper concludes by proposing ways to escape the contemporary grammar of suffering, drawing on the insights and actions of global minority movements. We assert the potential of psychedelics, in conjunction with psychotherapy, as tools for resisting neoliberalism.