Economic institutions perpetuate themselves through reproducing workers’ consciousness

Evidence

Thus it is clear that the consciousness of workers— beliefs, values, self-concepts, types of solidarity and fragmentation, as well as modes of personal behavior and development— are integral to the perpetuation, validation, and smooth operation of economic institutions. The reproduction of the social relations of production depends on the reproduction of consciousness. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 1130

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘reproduction of consciousness’ as the mechanism by which social relations of production are perpetuated.
• XREF: connects to: The productive apparatus shapes individual needs, not just work roles — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 97; Mainstream economics denies workers agency by modeling them as substitutable production inputs — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 513; Just-in-time capitalism rewires workers’ nervous systems for perpetual instability — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 73 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Collective worker consciousness extends from the factory to national and international division of labour #expands (0.85) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 814