The happiness industry: How the government and big business sold us wellbeing
Join Will Davies for a discussion of his latest book, The Happiness Industry: How the Government and Big Business Sold us Well-Being.
In this podcast, Will Davies talks about
The Happiness Industry
In the past decade, governments and corporations have become increasingly interested in measuring the way people feel: 'the Happiness index', 'Gross National Happiness', wellbeing and positive psychology have come to dominate the way we live our lives. As a result, our emotions have become a new resource to be bought and sold.
Will Davies explores what this means for how we work, the power of the 'nudge', the ever-expanding definitions of depression, the commercialisation of your most private feelings, and more. He explores the arguments of his latest book, The Happiness Industry: How the Government and Big Business Sold us Well-Being.
Read more: The corruption of happiness
The event was chaired by Zoe Williams of the Guardian, with a response from Juliet Michaelson, acting head of the Centre for Wellbeing at the New Economics Foundation.