Cultural Foundations for Neoliberal Capitalism: Consumer and Corporate Culture

Abstract

The authors' considerations are based on the hypothesis that contemporary capitalism is not the recreation of 19 th century free market capitalism but an ideological system supporting mainly the interests of multinational companies. The neoliberal agenda is based also on cultural foundations and peoples' economic choices are influenced by cultural factors. The overarching logic of neoliberal capitalism boils down to profit maximization and consumption. When this logic was internalized by people, they became unconscious followers of the rules imposed upon them by capital owners. According to neoliberal ideology, corporate culture should to be applied to every domain of personal and social life. Interpersonal relations and marriage have become commodified as well. As a result, the state of mental health of the population has worsened and people have failed to achieve lasting satisfaction. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate from sociological point of view in what way neoliberal values pervade numerous domains of both social and personal life bringing about negative consequences.