Neoliberal Educational Practices: Between Modulation and Molding. A View from Simondon and Deleuze

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to analyze neoliberal educational practices, in light of the concepts of modulation and molding from the thought of the French philosopher Gilbert Simondon. In this way, the text will be organized into three sections: first, the concepts of modulation and molding will be analyzed  from  the  reflections on  individuation  and  technical  operations  in  Simondon's  work; Subsequently, an approach to neoliberal educational practices will be made from the analysis that Gilles Deleuze elaborates on control societies and the way in which he characterizes the crises of disciplinary power mechanisms as spaces for molding the formation of the individual; Finally, we will recover the Simondonian  theory on individuation and technique to problematize how neoliberal educational practices and discourses, associated with lifelong learning (learning to learn) can be understood as practices that oscillate between modulation and molding.