Ronald PurserEdit
Ronald Purser is an American scholar and author who has become a prominent voice in discussions about how mindfulness is practiced in the modern workplace. A professor of management at San Francisco State University, Purser is best known for his critical examination of the mindfulness movement, especially as it has been adopted in corporate settings. In his long-running research, he argues that the form of mindfulness promoted by many employers serves more to manage labor and dampen resistance than to meaningfully improve workers’ lives. His most widely cited work, the 2019 book McMindfulness (tocusing on the question of how mindfulness became the new capitalist spirituality), is central to his argument that mindfulness has been co-opted by market logics.
Purser’s scholarship blends strands from management studies, critical theory, and social analysis. He has been active in conversations about how organizational practices shape worker experience and subjectivity, and he has written about the broader cultural and economic forces that shape wellness programs in the workplace. His work situates mindfulness within the larger arc of capitalism and neoliberal policy debates, arguing that corporate mindfulness can normalize higher workloads and job precarity by offering individuals a personal coping strategy rather than addressing structural labor issues. See mindfulness for the practice he critiques and capitalism and neoliberalism for the broader frameworks in which he places these corporate trends. Purser’s perspective is closely associated with Critical management studies, which seeks to challenge conventional orthodoxy about how organizations should operate.
Biography and career
Purser has taught in the management field at San Francisco State University for decades, focusing on organizational behavior, critical theory, and the social implications of workplace practices. His work often emphasizes the tension between individual wellness initiatives and the broader socioeconomic conditions in which workers operate. In addition to his book, Purser has published scholarly articles and contributed to conversations about how mindfulness and related wellness programs intersect with labor, productivity, and corporate culture. His writings have attracted attention from scholars, practitioners, and critics who ask whether well-being programs truly serve workers or primarily advance managerial objectives. See mindfulness for the practice at the center of his critique and workplace wellness as a term used in many corporate settings.
The McMindfulness thesis
Core claims
Purser’s central claim is that mindfulness in modern workplaces has been commodified and redirected to serve capital accumulation and managerial control. He argues that corporate mindfulness programs often emphasize individual psychological resilience rather than collective action or systemic reform. The term McMindfulness signals what he sees as the fusion of mindfulness with market rationalities, creating a form of “spirituality” that legitimizes long hours, performance pressure, and casualization of work as manageable through private self-care.
Mechanisms and examples
In Purser’s analysis, mindfulness trainings are widely promoted as solutions to work-related stress, yet they may function to shift responsibility from employers to employees. By teaching workers to regulate emotions and attention, companies can reduce the perceived need to change labor practices, benefits, or schedules. He frames this dynamic within broader discussions of neoliberalism and the monetization of personal well-being, arguing that the corporate version of mindfulness is often at odds with the more transformative potential of mindfulness in other settings.
Reception and influence
Purser’s critique has influenced debates within business ethics, organizational studies, and the psychology of work. Proponents of traditional mindfulness programs emphasize benefits for mental health, focus, and performance, while Purser’s work challenges institutions to examine how such programs are implemented and who benefits. His arguments intersect with discussions about the limits of corporate social responsibility and the role of the state and markets in shaping worker welfare. See critical management studies for a broader frame in which these questions are often analyzed.
Controversies and debates
Purser’s position has generated a spectrum of responses. Supporters contend that his analysis helps reveal how well-being initiatives can be deployed as a form of soft governance, aligning employee conduct with organizational goals without addressing deeper systemic issues. Critics, including some mindfulness advocates and management scholars, argue that Purser’s thesis may overgeneralize the movement or understate legitimate personal benefits that mindfulness can offer individuals across different contexts. They caution against treating all mindfulness programs as inherently aligned with capitalist priorities, noting variation in design, implementation, and intent across organizations.
From a broader policy and cultural perspective, Purser’s work engages with longstanding debates about the balance between individual responsibility and structural reform in maintaining worker welfare. While some readers see his critique as an essential counterweight to corporate hype around wellness, others view it as too sweeping or insufficiently attentive to the nuanced ways mindfulness can be practiced outside the workplace. The discussion also intersects with questions about how to assess empirical evidence regarding mindfulness outcomes, and how to distinguish therapeutic, evidence-based applications from broader cultural trends that commercialize spiritual ideas.