For Work / Against Work
Debates on the centrality of work

"Freedom through Work: The Psychosocial, Affect and Work"

by Dashtipour, Parisa (2014)

Abstract

While recognizing the value of productive work, some social theorists call for the end of wage-based work because of its exploitative nature (e.g., Gorz, 1999). In parallel with such arguments, this chapter suggests that it is not work itself that needs to be eliminated but the way in which it is organized and the conditions in which it is conducted. Elaborating on the relationship between work and affect, the chapter shows how work can, in fact, be a route to freedom. It contributes by recasting both freedom and work as psychosocial processes and thereby demonstrating the empowering and transformative potentials of work.

Key Passage

Organizational theorists employ Lacan’s concepts in various different ways, but most of them make one key point: neoliberal market-based ideology seduces workers at an affective level by responding to their search for recognition and fulfillment.  (p.6)

Keywords

Empowerment, Freedom, Exploitation, Productive Work, Waged Work, Working Conditions, Psychoanalysis, Psychosocial, Lacan

Themes

Psychological Centrality of Work

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