Submission Date
5-12-2021
Document Type
Paper
Department
Anthropology
Adviser
Jonathan Clark
Committee Member
Lauren Wynne
Committee Member
Catherine van de Ruit
Department Chair
Jonathan Clark
Project Description
This paper evaluates the healthy lifestyle promotion corporation known as Blue Zones by focusing on their approach to behavioral modification. The analysis relies on popular theories of governmentality such as neoliberalism, libertarian paternalism, and neuroliberalism that seek to explain how personal forms of knowledge intersect with mechanisms of social control to influence the creation of policy. Through a content-analysis of the organization’s foundational text, I argue that Blue Zones is best understood as a form of neuroliberalism because it grants individuals the autonomy to be their own choice architects.
Recommended Citation
Durrwachter, Neve, "Neuroliberalism and Beyond" (2021). Anthropology Honors Papers. 2.
https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/anth_hon/2
Included in
Behavioral Economics Commons, Community Health Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons
