Fujimorista realism: apathy and sadomasochism in neoliberal Perú

Abstract

This article proposes the notion of “fujimorista realism”, understood as the peruvian instance of Mark Fisher’s “capitalist realism”, that is, the generalized inability to imagine alternatives to neoliberal capitalism. Drawing from a dialogue between Fisher’s suggestions and some concepts from Winnicott, Fromm and Reich’s psychoanalysis, I contend that fujimorista realism can be seen as a consequence of the repression of the collective desire for freedom and equality due to the systematic use of violence by the peruvian elites through the last thirty years. I, thus, identify two main kinds of fujimorista realism: one apathic, in which violence forces the sublimation of political desires as a conformist acquiescence to neoliberal political rationality, and other, sadomasochist, in which violence turns those desires, this time unconscious, into hate towards the weak, love for the powerful and a relentless propensity for the enjoyment of the destruction that neoliberalism brings about.