Chapter 9 Sucking Vulnerability: Neoliberalism, the Chupacabras, and the Post-Cold War Years

Abstract

Monsters are everywhere. As immortal entities, they are older than capitalism, patriarchy, xenophobia, and homophobia. Nevertheless, monsters can be some of these oppressive systems most ferocious allies. We humans have created them, yet monsters prey on our most primal fears and hopes. They surround our existence, haunt us, and dwell in our imagination. To the point that we can trace communities’ histories by the pantheon of monsters they have created. More importantly, these human-made entities are never random or naïve, but rather they are sophisticated social constructions, built from semiotic raw materials and assembled with specific scopes and objectives. They may be fictitious, but they confront our real world anxieties and remind us of our mortality. Monsters represent the cultural soundtrack of the everyday.

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