Civic republicanism as an alternative to neoliberalism

José Luis Villacañas’s critique of neoliberalism in his work Neoliberalismo como teología política has gained prominence in the current intellectual debate. Villacañas conceptualizes neoliberalism as the latest attempt at a totalizing reunification of social and personal life, analogous to previous political theologies. Unlike totalitarian regimes, neoliberalism has imposed its “economic truth” through governance, colonizing the human psyche and replacing traditional socialization with the internalization of capitalist market rules. In response, Villacañas advocates for the Enlightenment and republican tradition, whose principles are civic virtue, political participation, and the primacy of the common good. While he does not develop a complete republican economic model, he highlights proposals such as Dardot and Laval’s cooperativism, emphasizing the need for state support. His analysis points to an ethical-political transformation that reclaims politics as collective deliberation about the common good, transcending the neoliberal mercantile logic. Villacañas’s proposal offers a valuable contribution to rethinking the foundations of our societies in the face of neoliberal colonization, revitalizing civic virtue and political participation in the service of the common good.