£4.00 – £5.50
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 coopted 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.”
“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.”
“McMindfulness makes an important critique of self-centered mindfulness and points us towards a new vision for real social change.”
“Ron Purser cuts through the comforting New Age jargon used to promote mindfulness, enabling us to distinguish between the practice and its marketing.”
“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.”
“If you are wondering about whether mindfulness is really a panacea for all our problems, this is the book to read.”
“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.”
“Spiky, witty, meticulously researched and thoroughly engaging, McMindfulness is the best assessment of ‘Mindfulness’ to date.”
“A much needed wake-up call to the dark side of mindfulness-based practices… a must-read.”
“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.”
“Thought-provoking, energetic and visceral.”
