On Being at Work : The Social Construction of the Employee.

Cover -- Title Information -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: Inspirations, Aims, Debates, Reflexivity and Anti-Methodology -- 1 What Is 'Work'? A Tale of Two Sisters -- 2 The Master's Tale -- 3 The Bondsman's Tale -- 4 Becoming Human -- 5 Becoming and Not Becoming Gendered -- 6 A Hyperbolic Theory, a Theory in Drag: Organizations and the Murder of the Me's-I-Might-Have-Been -- Conclusion: From Poverty of Aspiration to a Politicised, Ethical Me-I-Might-Become? -- Appendix -- Notes -- References -- Index.

Inspired by the work of the philosopher Judith Butler, influenced by Marx's theory of alienation and intrigued by theories of death, this book develops an anti-methodological approach to studying working lives. Distinctions are drawn between labour (the tasks we do in our jobs) and work (self-making activities that are carried out at the workplace): between the less than human, zombie-like laborer and the working human self. Nancy Harding argues that the experience of being at work is one in which the insistence on practising one's humanity always provides a counter-point to organisational demands.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.