Economy of Misery

An economy of misery is a system of deception in complex coalescent systems in which the oppressed are offered some article that has no actual value that can be exchanged for their living expenses, but that provides them a symbolic value that they cling to, namely that of an identity, which suggests belonging, or even just a feature that they can attach to their existing identity so as to at least argue for some measure of entitlement to belong and act as if they did.

This symbolic quality should not be confused with something with no material consequence. While the symbolic can't be directly exchanged for valuables, it can improve one's livelihood by allowing them improved health, better relationships, better work, which incidentally leads also to better salaries and better opportunities for obtaining non-symbolic wealth.

It remains important as a distinct feature, however, because none of this is necessary for the misery economy to sustain its effects. Even if those it grants a given symbol remain as materially dispossessed as those it doesn't, it will nonetheless instill a sense of hierarchy between them

For a related but distinct concept, see also the notion of psychological wage introduced by W. E. B. Du Bois, mainly explored in Black Reconstruction in America (1935).