McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality
By (Author) Ronald Purser
Watkins Media Limited
Repeater Books
20th August 2019
9th July 2019
New edition
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Mind, body, spirit
158.13
Paperback
304
Width 130mm, Height 197mm
A lively and razor-sharp critique of mindfulness as it has been enthusiastically co-opted by corporations, public schools, and the US military. A lively and razor-sharp critique of mindfulness as it has been enthusiastically co-opted by corporations, public schools, and the US military. Mindfulness is now all the rage. From celebrity endorsements to monks, neuroscientists and meditation coaches rubbing shoulders with CEOs at the World Economic Forum in Davos, it is clear that mindfulness has gone mainstream. Some have even called it a revolution. But what if, instead of changing the world, mindfulness has become a banal form of capitalist spirituality that mindlessly avoids social and political transformation, reinforcing the neoliberal status quo In McMindfulness, Ronald Purser debunks the so-called "mindfulness revolution," exposing how corporations, schools, governments and the military have co-opted it as technique for social control and self-pacification. A lively and razor-sharp critique, Purser busts the myths its salesmen rely on, challenging the narrative that stress is self-imposed and mindfulness is the cure-all. If we are to harness the truly revolutionary potential of mindfulness, we have to cast off its neoliberal shackles, liberating mindfulness for a collective awakening.
In this insightful book, Ron Purser has evaluated the strengths and weakness of the mindfulness movement, while clearly showing the way to cultivate authentic mindfulness that liberates us from the true causes of individual and collective suffering.
-B. Alan Wallace, President, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies
Far from being either a harmless form of New Age self-indulgence or meditation dressed up as a medicalized antidote to the ubiquitous stresses of modern life, Ron Purser sees the mindfulness movement as epitomizing a malignant trend of contemporary Western individualism, one that is blinding us to the social problems of inherent in neoliberalism and capitalism, providing an anodyne where what is needed is rigorous analysis and political action.
- Barry Magid, author ofWhats Wrong With Mindfulness
McMindfulnessmakes an important critique of self-centered mindfulness and points us towards a newvision for real social change.
-Christopher Titmuss, author ofThe Political Buddha
Ron Purser cuts through the comforting New Age jargon used to promote mindfulness, enabling us to distinguish between the practice and its marketing.
-Richard Payne, Institute of Buddhist Studies
"Timely and incisive... Purser reveals how mindfulness became a vast industry, promising to cure us of a growing range of psychological ailments, and simultaneously propping up the political and economic system that generates them.
William Davies, author ofNervous StatesandThe Happiness Industry
If you are wondering about whether mindfulness is really a panacea for all our problems, this is the book to read. David Loy, author ofMoney, Sex, War and Karma
"Provocatively illustrates how mindfulness has been hijacked by corporate interests, turned into an opiate of the masses, and how we can radically rethink the meaning of mindfulness in contemporary life.
Dr. Steven Stanley, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
"Spiky, witty, meticulously researched and thoroughly engaging,McMindfulness is the best assessment of Mindfulness to date."
Manu Bazzano, author ofZen and Therapy: Heretical Perspectivesand editor ofAfter Mindfulness: new Perspectives on Psychology and Meditation
"A much needed wake-up call to the dark side of mindfulness-based practices... a must-read.
Richard King, Professor of Buddhist and Asian Studies, University of Kent.
"Just the right book at just the right time... May it help turn the tide of western spirituality toward a genuine model of personal and social health.
Glenn Wallis, author ofA Critique of Western Buddhismand Director of Insight Seminars
Ronald Purser is a Professor of Management at San Francisco State University. His essays and cultural criticism have appeared in the Huffington Post, Salon, Alternet and Tricycle magazine. His viral article, "Beyond McMindfulness", opened the floodgates for the mindfulness backlash. His recent books include the Handbook of Mindfulness- Culture, Context and Social Engagement and the Handbook of Ethical Foundations of Mindfulness. Dr. Purser began his Buddhist training beginning in 1981 at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute in Berkeley, California and is an ordained Buddhist teacher in the Korean Zen Taego order. He is co-host of Mindful Cranks podcast and is a regular speaker and guests on radio shows and podcasts. He lives with his family and dog in San Francisco, CA.