The Well-Tempered Self

The Well-Tempered Self Synopsis

In The Well-Tempered Self, Toby Miller argues that the modern capitalist state musters a variety of cultural forces to send deliberately mixed messages about the nature of citizenship and the self. The process creates ideal citizens: "cultural subjects" trained to meet the conflicting needs of the political and economic systems. Miller contents that capitalism's democratic politics requires selfless, community-minded citizens, white its economics depends on selfish, utilitarian consumers. To fulfill these conflicting needs for political order and economic prosperity, powerful cultural forces are employed to instill a sense of "ethical incompleteness." Citizens are then offered political, cultural, and economic opportunities to become better, happier, and more fulfilled-opportunities that, in turn, encourage loyalty to both the political and economic systems. In a series of case studies that demonstrate this process, Miller examines mass enternationment, political discourse, and methods of resistance to these powerful cultural forces.