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From mad to mindful: Corporate control through corporate spirituality

Wrenn, Mary V.

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Authors

Mary Wrenn Mary.Wrenn@uwe.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Economics



Abstract

Abstract: Capitalism has always and will always depend on a compliant workforce. Maintaining the delicate balance between a worker who is just “not-unhappy” enough or desperate enough to continue working while also cutting costs to the bone presents a continuous challenge for business interests. This pursuit to squeeze more productivity out of workers while also managing worker discontent in the cheapest way possible has spawned innovations in labor management which reflect the institutional milieu of the respective time. This research focuses on those labor management techniques particular to neoliberalism and the ways in which cultural movements and trends of the neoliberal period are mined and deployed as yet another useful resource in the disciplining of workers. Corporate mindfulness is the favorite labor management technique of the neoliberal period. The formalized packaging of corporate mindfulness began in the late 1970s but was built on a long tradition of attempts to hack the minds and mindsets of workers. Corporate mindfulness reinforces neoliberalism through the corporate individual, the transformation of the self of the corporate individual, and the creation of the corporation as a community and means of social connection for the corporate individual.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 15, 2020
Online Publication Date Jun 16, 2020
Publication Date 2020
Deposit Date May 11, 2021
Publicly Available Date Dec 17, 2021
Journal Journal of Economic Issues
Print ISSN 0021-3624
Electronic ISSN 1946-326X
Publisher Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 54
Issue 2
Pages 503-509
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2020.1756660
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7338138

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