Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism
chronicles the rise of a new vocabulary in the twenty-first century. From Silicon Valley to the White House, from kindergarten to college, and from the factory floor to the church pulpit, we are all called to be
innovators
and
entrepreneurs
, to be
curators
of an ever-expanding roster of
competencies
, and to become
resilient
flexible
in the face of the insults and injuries we confront at work. In the midst of increasing inequality, these keywords teach us to thrive by applying the lessons of a competitive
marketplace
to every sphere of life. What’s more, by celebrating the values of
grit
,
creativity
, and
passion
at school and at work, they assure us that economic success is nothing less than a moral virtue.
Organized alphabetically as a lexicon,
Keywords
explores the history and common usage of major terms in the everyday language of capitalism. Because the words in this book have successfully infiltrated everyday life in the English-speaking world, their meanings often seem self-evident, even benign. Who could be against
empowerment
, after all?
uncovers the unexpected histories of words like
innovation
, which was once synonymous with “false prophecy” before it became the prevailing faith of Silicon Valley. Other words, like
best practices
human capital
, are relatively new coinages that promise us a kind of freedom within a
extending its reach across the public sector and into our private lives. The new language of capitalism burnishes hierarchy, competition, and exploitation as
leadership
collaboration
sharing
, modeling for us the habits of the economically successful person: be visionary, be self-reliant, and never, ever stop working.