Boltanski and Chiapello argue that capitalism survives not merely through coercion or economic efficiency, but by continually renewing its spirit: the justificatory ideology that makes accumulation appear meaningful, morally tolerable and socially desirable. In The New Spirit of Capitalism, they explain that, by the 1980s and 1990s, capitalism had absorbed much of the anti-bureaucratic and anti-hierarchical critique associated with 1968, transforming demands for autonomy, creativity and flexibility into managerial norms . The result was a new “projective” order organised around networks, mobility, innovation and temporary projects, where individuals are valued for adaptability rather than stability. This transformation did not abolish exploitation; instead, it displaced it into less visible forms, such as insecurity, precarious employment and permanent self-optimisation. A clear example is contemporary management discourse, which celebrates teamwork, freedom and employability while weakening collective protections and transferring risk from institutions to workers. As a case study, the shift from Fordist employment to project-based labour reveals how critique can be neutralised: the worker is no longer openly subordinated by rigid hierarchy, but is compelled to remain constantly available, connected and entrepreneurial. Boltanski and Chiapello therefore show that critique is indispensable because capitalism feeds upon it, incorporates its language and then reorganises domination through that very vocabulary. Ultimately, their analysis demonstrates that genuine social critique must expose not only inequality, but also the seductive moral language through which capitalism presents insecurity as liberation.