The Bottom Line (eBook)

Unfortunate Side Effects of Capitalist Culture

Arthur McGovern (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2017
212 Seiten
Vernon Art and Science Inc. (Verlag)
978-1-62273-284-5 (ISBN)

Infos

This monograph explores the role of culture in modern societies and the side effects that result when that role is distorted. The basic premise of this book is that many of the dominant cultural characteristics of modern life, like the ideologies and values associated with materialism and consumer capitalism, are cultural phenomena with influences that are in many ways problematic and in some ways downright detrimental to our sustained societal well-being. I argue in this book that the globalized capitalist economic system has become increasingly efficient in terms of scale and scope, but has also become less humane in many regards; less connected to human needs and concerns. Of particular concern is the encroachment of economic interests into areas of human society that traditionally have been free from profit motives, or at least only minimally influenced by them; areas such as scientific research, the justice system, and even family relationships.I suggest that there is a slow but steady intrusion into these areas of human life that were once considered off-limits to naked economic incentives and calculations. This intrusion puts the idea of America as a free and democratic society increasingly at risk when private economic stakeholders meddle in the political and cultural areas of society in ever more insidious ways to further their own enrichment at the expense of the public. Furthermore, the vast capitalist economic system is in many ways increasingly disconnected or disembedded from the contexts and regulations of traditional social relations as in the past.

Inhalt

Chapter 1    Capitalism and society
Introduction
Market Logic
Modernity and the Rise of Modern Problems
Technocracy and Instrumentality
Colonization by the Capitalist Market
Money
Alienation    
Summary ThoughtsChapter 2    The Role of Culture    
Culture    
Frames and Ideas    
The Strategic Use of Framing    
Ideologies    
Capitalism as Ideology    
Individualism    
Homo Economicus: The Ideal Man    
Summary Thoughts
    
Chapter 3    The Power and Problems  of Capitalism    
Winners and Losers    
Historical Context    
Market versus State Capitalism    
Neoliberalism, or the Sad State of American State Capitalism    
Capitalism and Social Justice    
Externalities    
A Global Issue    
Perverse Industries    
The Illness Industry    
Big Pharma and Little Kids    
For-Profit Law Enforcement    
Summary Thoughts
    
Chapter 4    Consumption Problems    
Permissive Politics    
From Puritanism to Consumerism    
The Symbolism of Consumption    
Consumer Identity as Social Identity    
Economic intrusions    
Marketing and Manipulation    
Commodifying Culture    
Anomie    
Summary Thoughts
    
Chapter 5    Manipulation, Mass Media,  and Democracy    
Democracy and the Public Sphere    
Media and the Public Sphere    
The Media and Elitism    
Elitism    
Knowledge and Power    
Passive Democracy and Political Illusions    
Illusions of Representation    
Illusions of Public Participation    
Summary Thoughts
    
Chapter 6    Why Do These Problems Persist?    
Educational Weakness    
Unhelpful Biases    
Reactionary Populism    
Social Conservatism & Nostalgia
    
Concluding Thoughts    
References    
Index

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 16.6.2017
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik
• ISBN-10: 1-62273-284-7 / 1622732847
• ISBN-13: 978-1-62273-284-5 / 9781622732845