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Control and Surveillance in Work Practice: Cultivating Paradox in ‘New’ Modes of Organizing

Author

Listed:
  • François-Xavier de Vaujany

    (DRM - MLAB - Dauphine Recherches en Management - MLAB - DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Aurélie Leclercq Vandelannoitte

    (LEM - Lille économie management - UMR 9221 - UA - Université d'Artois - UCL - Université catholique de Lille - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Iain Munro

    (University of Newcastle Business School - University of Newcastle Business School)

  • Yesh Nama

    (RMIT University - Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University)

  • Robin Holt

    (CBS - Copenhagen Business School [Copenhagen])

Abstract

The new world of work is being characterized by the emergence of what are, apparently, increasingly autonomous ways of working and living. Mobile work, coworking, flex office, platform-based entrepreneurship, virtual collaborations, Do It Yourself (DIT), remote work, digital nomads, among other trends, epitomize ways of organizing work practice that purportedly align productivity with freedom. But most ethnographical research already reveals many paradoxical experiences associated with these new practices and processes. Indeed, it appears that with autonomy comes surveillance and control, to a point where, as Foucault observed way back, subjectivity and subject become synonyms, and the current pandemic both strengthens and makes visible this situation. In this introduction to the special issue we make a foray into this situation, using four open and related themes developed in the five papers we selected: managerial control and technology; surveillance and platform capitalism; time and space; and new organizational forms and autonomy. Paradoxical movements are identified for each of them, before we conclude by reflecting on a grounding paradox which appears at the centre of this special issue and the themes it covers.

Suggested Citation

  • François-Xavier de Vaujany & Aurélie Leclercq Vandelannoitte & Iain Munro & Yesh Nama & Robin Holt, 2021. "Control and Surveillance in Work Practice: Cultivating Paradox in ‘New’ Modes of Organizing," Post-Print hal-03268925, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03268925
    DOI: 10.1177/01708406211010988
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03268925
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    2. François-Xavier de Vaujany & Nathalie Mitev & Pierre Laniray & Emmanuelle Vaast, 2014. "Time and Materiality: What is at Stake in the Materialization of Time and Time as a Materialization?," Post-Print hal-01768073, HAL.
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    4. Downes, Rebecca & Daellenbach, Urs & Donnelly, Noelle, 2023. "Remote control: Attitude monitoring and informal control in distributed teams," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).

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