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The Self in Self-Help: A Re-Appraisal of Therapeutic Culture in a Time of Crisis

Daniel Nehring Orcid Logo

Sociological Research Online, Volume: 29, Issue: 2, Pages: 316 - 333

Swansea University Author: Daniel Nehring Orcid Logo

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Abstract

In this article, I analyse constructions of the self in bestselling self-help books in the United Kingdom. In doing so, I offer a re-appraisal of contemporary therapeutic culture. Therapeutic culture has long been associated with neoliberal governance, and scholars have argued that popular therapeut...

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Published in: Sociological Research Online
ISSN: 1360-7804 1360-7804
Published: SAGE Publications 2024
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66549
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Abstract: In this article, I analyse constructions of the self in bestselling self-help books in the United Kingdom. In doing so, I offer a re-appraisal of contemporary therapeutic culture. Therapeutic culture has long been associated with neoliberal governance, and scholars have argued that popular therapeutic narratives promote neoliberal accounts of an autonomous, masterful ‘entrepreneurial self’, able to thrive in the world on its own. However, beginning with the international financial crisis of 2008, neoliberalism has entered a period of serious and accelerating crisis and contestation. The question therefore arises to what extent popular therapeutic narratives might have changed during this period. In response, I analyse narratives of the self and self-improvement in UK self-help bestsellers between 2008 and 2022. Given their high sales and consumption, self-help books are prominent in the constitution of popular therapeutic discourse. I focus on the UK as an emblematic case, given its history of neoliberal politics, the latter’s recent crisis, and the salience of therapeutic culture in the country. Across the analysed period, my findings point to the emergence of alternative, survivalist and spiritual, therapeutic discourses that move beyond the model of the entrepreneurial self, while ultimately retaining its core assumptions about rational, autonomous behavioural modification.
Keywords: narrative research; neoliberalism; self-help; therapeutic culture
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Funders: Swansea University
Issue: 2
Start Page: 316
End Page: 333