Base and Superstructure

Alienation, autonomy, and ideology

Category: Corporate World (Page 1 of 14)

These are posts on the corporate world from the blog Base and Superstructure. The corporate world is complex. It’s confusing to anyone not involved. Corporate life has its own characteristic forms, language, jargon, and mannerisms. Neoliberalism structures our politics and thought, and so this is also a major focus of these posts. The non-profit corporate sector is its own distinct mini-world. And, in particular, spending significant time involved in corporate life engenders a special form of ennui. All of these subtopics feed off of one another. Each is critical to thinking about corporate life and its role in the United States.

A photo of a large mausoleum with columns, used as a symbol for the death of academia.

Is Academia Dying?

October 6, 2025 /

Academia looks like it’s dying.

But let’s start much earlier.

Back in the early to mid 2010s, I was a professor. I taught my final class a decade ago, as a part-time Visiting Assistant Professor at The University of Iowa. It was my departure from academia. After that, I’d only see it from outside the academic priesthood.

The changes rocking academia in the 2020s would’ve affected me differently had I not left. But hopefully there’s some value in the reflections of one who once knew the world from the inside.

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A portrayal of the reintegration process from the TV show Severance

Severance and Reintegration

July 7, 2025 /

After the first season of Severance, I blogged a couple of times about the issues it raises for having children and organizing in the white-collar world.

As I watched the second season, I had in mind that I might revisit these topics. Does the second season tell us anything new about organizing, for instance?

In some sense, perhaps it does. It provides more detail in how companies divide workers from one another and from their work. In addition, it gets into details about how workers can overcome these things. The four core workers throw off a ton of corporate bullshit and learn how to trust each other.

But I wanted to hit one new topic.

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The text 'Beyond Anti-Capitalism' written against a red background in Coca-Cola style font.

Anti-Capitalist Capitalism and the Church of HR

August 5, 2024 /

The world has developed a few striking new features since 2020 – since the pandemic and the protests in response to the police murder of George Floyd. Among those features, here’s one that stands out to me: the rise of explicitly anti-capitalist branding within the capitalist system.

That is to say, people and companies use anti-capitalist messages, logos, and slogans in order to sell things to people or push companies and their workers toward efficiency and profit. So, we’re not just talking about Che Guevara t-shirts here.

It goes deeper than that.

A few years ago, I wrote about one facet of this that we might call ‘Woke HR.’ But let’s look into this a bit further.

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An artistic image depicting Soviet managerialism, with red and yellow rays and a man and woman staring at the screen.

Managerialism and Socialism

April 22, 2024 /

Ronald Purser’s recent article in Current Affairs, “Against Managerialism,” brought to mind for me a common motivation for socialism. It’s one we easily forget, even more so when we dive into the weeds of talking politics or running a socialist org.

I’m talking about economic democracy – the idea that regular, everyday workers are the most qualified to run their workplace. When I think about socialism – really reflect on it – I see economic democracy at the heart of it. And to create a real economic democracy requires us to rid the world – and ourselves – of managerialism.

Let’s say a bit more.

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A photo of a man by himself, designed to represent the problem of AI and loneliness.
Sad Sadness Man Depression Depressive Loneliness

AI and Loneliness: A Better Alternative?

March 25, 2024 /

As I was reading Anton Jäger’s recent Jacobin article on AI and loneliness, I found myself thinking about what a better scenario would even look like.

Jäger claims, with good reason, that AI chatbots mix with capitalism in a concerning way. Some bill them as a way to rescue people from loneliness and lack of intimacy. But, in practice, they take advantage of people for profit.

In a better world, how would chatbots handle these problems? After all, implementing socialism wouldn’t automatically cure the loneliness epidemic. It wouldn’t, by itself, put us into a place where we easily navigate social circles and form friendships. Capitalism harms our friendships, but friendship ain’t easy. Even in the ideal case.

How could chatbots help with that. Could they? Or are we just barking up the wrong tree?

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