Nudging citizens in the context of neoliberalism: Their hidden side

The chapter argues that the processes of market deregulation, privatization, and financialization of corporate strategies and labour flexibility can be associated with Libertarian Paternalist governance. Indeed, the spread of the use of nudging by governments is at core of a set of complex economic, social, and political interrelations. More specifically, the chapter explores how the articulation between Libertarian Paternalism and the neoliberal policy interventions turns out to shape individual behaviour in the markets. Shedding light on the contributions on Bentham's Panopticon and Foucault's biopolitics, this chapter illuminates a vast set of effects of the so called "soft" government interventions and power techniques on the control of life. The neoliberal governance of nudging raises cultural and political concerns about technocracy and surveillance in the context of Big Data. Then, the relevant questions are: can digital nudging be qualified as Libertarian Paternalism? Are the conceptualization and current practice of nudging appropriate for building a democratic society?