Re-Imagining Wellness in the Age of Neoliberalism

Abstract

In this article, I explore the neoliberalization of wellness practices and the negative impact that this has had on the production and consumption of food products otherwise considered ‘healthy’ and or ‘ecofriendly’. Specifically, I argue that capitalist notions of productivity and wellness have become intertwined, resulting in the large-scale destruction of both our environment and of the politically and economically marginalized. First, I examine the capitalist co-option of the concept of self-care and its origins in the 1960s civil rights movement as a response to a discriminatory medical establishment. Afterward, I explore the corporate-led evolution of wellness culture, illustrating its consequences for the environment, and the security and health of marginalized populations around the world. Finally, I argue that holistic and community-centered concepts of productivity and wellness are necessary for combatting inequality and climate crisis.