BEING POSITIVE: EDUCATING FOR LIFE IN COGNITIVE CAPITALISM
JAMES REVELEYABSTRACT. This article analyses the complementarity between introducing into schools self-technologies spawned by positive psychology, on the one hand, and cognitive capitalism on the other. The approach taken to sketching out the lines of intersection is suggested by Besley and Peters (2007). Reflexive self-production is central to life under cognitive capitalism. At the same time, positive psychological discourse is seeping into pedagogical practice and encouraging self-work. Self-technologies such as mindfulness meditation are inculcating in schoolchildren an emotionally reflexive stance. As a result, schools are becoming sites where subjects are acclimated to immaterial labor. This labor is cognitive capitalism’s lifeblood. pp. 172–183
JEL codes: H52; H75; I21; I23
Keywords: positive psychology; self-technologies; mindfulness; immaterial labor; cognitive capitalism
How to cite: Reveley, James (2015), “Being Positive: Educating for Life in Cognitive Capitalism,” Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management 3(2): 172–183.
Received 26 July 2015 • Received in revised form 18 August 2015
Accepted 18 August 2015 • Available online 24 November 2015