Byung-Chul Han (born 1959) is a South Korean-born German philosopher whose work diagnoses contemporary forms of power under neoliberal capitalism. His key insight is that domination now operates through freedom itself rather than through prohibition.
Han’s major works include The Burnout Society, Psychopolitics, and The Transparency Society. He argues that achievement subjects exploit themselves whilst believing they are free, that smart power seduces rather than represses, and that total transparency eliminates the negativity necessary for thought and resistance.
Related concepts: psychopolitics, auto-exploitation, smart-power, emotional-capitalism