Marketization and Foucault

Abstract

In the business disciplines such as marketing, when the occasional critical perspectives explore the concept of marketization, it is usually in the spirit of exploring a form of ‘excess’: too much commodification and overreach of marketing methods. This article takes the concept of ‘marketization’ into deeper theoretical territory, exploring in detail how the ideas of the influential social theorist Michel Foucault have shaped the contemporary concepts and realities of neoliberalism and marketization. The article also makes connections to marketing theory and practices, and indicates how these could evolve to keep marketization corralled and part of a large and varied mix of consumption practices.