Jóvenes en fuga de la sociedad del rendimiento: el caso del aislamiento social voluntario (hikikomori)

Gianluca Coeli; Pere Soler-Masó; Anna Planas-Lladó

doi:10.33115/udg_bib/pts.v14i1.23092

Young people on the run from the performance society: the case of voluntary social isolation (hikikomori)

Authors

Gianluca Coeli Universitat de Girona https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3412-2754
Pere Soler-Masó Institut de Recerca Educativa - Universitat de Girona https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8636-0925
Anna Planas-Lladó Institut de Recerca Educativa - Universitat de Girona https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6505-6222

Downloads

PDF (esp (España))

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between neoliberal capitalism and youth disorders, focusing on the hikikomori phenomenon. Regarded as emblematic of contemporary psychic suffering, hikikomori is critically analyzed from sociocultural perspectives. The study explores the limitations of dominant medicalizing approaches that reduce this behavior to an individual pathological dimension, overlooking the underlying social dynamics. It is argued that hikikomori emerges as a response to neoliberal capitalism, characterized by labor precariousness, educational pressure, and technological transformation.

The work presents qualitative narratives of hikikomori youths, highlighting their implicit critique of the system. These narratives reveal tensions between resistance to social norms and the internalization of neoliberal values, showcasing a struggle for autonomy. A methodology of radical empowerment based on self-narration is proposed to transform the individual experience of isolation into a tool for social change. Finally, an interdisciplinary approach is advocated to recognize hikikomori as a line of flight from dominant norms, facilitating new forms of subjectivity and existence beyond neoliberal frameworks.

Author Biographies

Gianluca Coeli, Universitat de Girona

Gianluca Coeli is a PhD student in Education at the University of Girona. His main lines of research focus on impact of neoliberal policies on education. He worked as special education teacher partecipating in projects on the Universal Design of Learning and he has taught as adjunct professor in Information and Communications Techonolgy at the Specialisation School for special education teachers at the University "Foro Italico" in Rome. He is currently researching into the relationship between youth disorders and educational processes in neoliberal societies.

Pere Soler-Masó, Institut de Recerca Educativa - Universitat de Girona

Pere Soler-Masó is Associate Professor in the Department of Pedagogy at the University of Girona. His teaching and research focuses on youth policies, youth participation, social pedagogy and Community Development. He is co-coordinator of “Liberi. Children, youth and community research group” of the Institute of Educational Research at the University of Girona, Catalonia (Spain). He is the Joint Master in Youth and Society (MIJS) coordinator since 2008. For further details, please visit her profiles at academia.edu and researchgate.net.

Anna Planas-Lladó, Institut de Recerca Educativa - Universitat de Girona

Anna Planas-Lladó is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pedagogy at the University of Girona (UdG). She has a background in community development and worked in youth and cultural services of local government before joining the university. She has been the Social Education Degree Coordinator at the UdG since 2014. Her teaching and research focus on social pedagogy through community development, assessment, participatory evaluation and youth policies and youth work. For further details, please visit her profiles at academia.edu and researchgate.net.