The worlds of academe and capitalism are moving ever closer together as the cultural value attributed to theory by managers increases. This paper documents this process and, at the same time, provides a critique of it. Accordingly, the paper is in three parts. The first part shows how the discursive make‐up of academe and capitalism have become remarkably similar. The second part of the paper then documents the rise of a ‘soft capitalism’ based upon new discourses of management, which, at (...) the same time, provides powerful technology of justification. The final part of the paper shows that the new discourses of management have a hard edge which impoverishes its practices but may also allow the space for other social models to grow. (shrink)