Neoliberalismo e Subjetividade: Desdobramentos em um Serviço de Saúde Mental

The objective of this paper is to discuss subjective processes produced in the relationship between service users and professionals in a Psychosocial Care Center in the Federal District, Brazil, which are related to expressions of neoliberalism and the new institutionalization in the field of mental health. The theory of subjectivity from a cultural-historical perspective is used as a central theoretical framework. The methodology used was the constructive-interpretive one, based on González Rey’s qualitative epistemology. The research was carried out with the professional team and service. We discuss the crossing of the neoliberal logic in the social subjectivity of the service and how the neoliberal rationality is articulated to the phenomenon of the new institutionalization, culminating in the hegemony of the mental hospital model in services that formally turn to its overcoming. As a counterpoint, we emphasize the urgency of professionals as agents of their practices, who not only resist current difficulties, but produce alternative subjective senses to neoliberal rationality and the pathologization of life. Key-words: neoliberalism; subjectivity; mental health.