Schumpeterian mutation requires enduring qualitative shifts driven by new consumer needs

Evidence

Although Schumpeter regarded capitalism as an “evolutionary” process, he also considered that relatively few of its continuous innovations actually rise to the level of evolutionary significance. These rare events are what he called “mutations.” These are enduring, sustainable, qualitative shifts in the logic, understanding, and practice of capitalist accumulation, not random, temporary, or opportunistic reactions to circumstances. Schumpeter insisted that this evolutionary mechanism is triggered by new consumer needs, and alignment with those needs is the discipline that drives sustainable mutation: “The capitalist process, not by coincidence but by virtue of its mechanism, progressively raises the standard of life of the masses.” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 155

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Schumpeter’s specific sense of ‘mutation’ as distinct from routine innovation — a precisely bounded technical term.
• XREF: Connects to Polanyi’s concept of the double movement and to the reading on Schumpeter’s economics generally; also anchors the book’s own theorized ‘dispossession-by-radical-indifference’ as a false mutation. — connects to: Sustained capitalist mutation requires new institutional forms, not merely destruction — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 156; Capitalism’s resilience comes from its plasticity in adopting new social forms — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1647; Consumer culture’s desire-production reproduces itself autonomously without needing any external cause — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 468 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Seller competition manufactures ever new consumer needs, which in turn amplifies individual variation #expands (0.85) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 758
• Consumer culture’s desire-production reproduces itself autonomously without needing any external cause #contradicts (0.82) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 468
• Sustained capitalist mutation requires new institutional forms, not merely destruction #qualifies (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 156
• Deliberate design generates new cultural variation faster and more constructively than random mutation #complicates (0.78) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 499
• Capitalism’s resilience comes from its plasticity in adopting new social forms #complicates (0.72) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1647