Invisible Handcuffs of Capitalism

How Market Tyranny Stifles the Economy by Stunting Workers

Michael Perelman

Mainstream, or more formally, neoclassical, economics claims to be a science. But as Michael Perelman makes clear, nothing could be further from the truth. While a science must be rooted in material reality, mainstream economics ignores or distorts the most fundamental aspect of this reality: that the vast majority of people must labor on behalf of others, transformed into nothing but a means to the end of maximum profits for their employers. Perelman describes this illusion as the “invisible handcuffs” of capitalism and traces its roots back to Adam Smith and his contemporaries. He argues that far from being a basically fair system of exchanges regulated by the “invisible hand” of the market, capitalism handcuffs working men and women (and children too) through the very labor process itself. What we need to do instead, Perelman suggests, is eliminate the handcuffs through collective actions and build a society that we direct ourselves.

Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Setting the Stage
1. The Anti-Worker Theology of Markets
2. Disciplining Workers in the Procrustean Bed
3. How Economics Marginalized Workers
4. Everyday Life in a Procrustean World
5. International Procrusteanism
6. Adam Smith’s Historical Vision
7. The Dark Side of Adam Smith
8. Keeping Score
9. The Destructive Nature of Procrusteanism
10. Where Do We Go from Here
Notes

About the Author

Michael Perelman is professor of economics at California State University at Chico, and the author of numerous books, including Steal This Idea and Railroading Economics.