Modern societies are becoming increasingly bureaucratic at both the professional and daily life levels. Bureaucratization becomes apparent in the rise of records and documents (even if they are digital), in the omnipresence of formal procedures, in the socially imposed necessity to fill out forms, evaluate, check boxes, request and offer quality guarantees in more and more areas, from the economy and governance to entertainment and our daily diet, with the certification of organic and "100% safe" foods.

Positioned at the intersection of Max Weber's thought and Michel Foucault's, the author analyzes the political dynamics of our time. Neoliberal bureaucracy is not a hierarchical mechanism that solely concerns the state and public administration; it is a set of norms, rules, and formalities that, while initially stemming from the business world, today tend to extend into every realm of social life. It serves as a vehicle for discipline and control, as well as a source of social and political indifference. However, it does not arise solely "from the top"; it is not a conscious product of a grand design, but is sometimes fueled by the demands and actions of all of us, from our own "participation in bureaucracy."

Nevertheless, all of this does not mean that there are no cracks and ambiguities in the process of neoliberal bureaucratization. New contentious issues indicate the direction of potential political struggles for the present and the future.