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Cold Winds and Warm Attachments: Interrogating the Personal Attachment to Neoliberal Work and Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Karel Musílek

    (Durham University, UK)

  • Kimberly Jamie

    (Durham University, UK)

  • Linda McKie

    (The University of Edinburgh, UK)

Abstract

The question of personal attachment to work in neoliberalism is subject to debate. Some scholars postulate that personal attachment to work based on durability, collectivity and predictability is weakening because of changes in its organisation; work ceases to provide the basis of subjectivity and identity. Conversely, others claim work, and neoliberal economic logic generally, pervades ever deeper into our lives, shapes our subjectivity, and incites personal and individualised attachments. This article describes four ways social scientists have understood personal attachments: entrepreneurship discourse; biocracy; approaches emphasising desire, lack and affect; and approaches highlighting the normative justifications and ethics of the self. It interrogates their theoretical underpinnings, empirical focus and points of confluence and difference.

Suggested Citation

  • Karel Musílek & Kimberly Jamie & Linda McKie, 2020. "Cold Winds and Warm Attachments: Interrogating the Personal Attachment to Neoliberal Work and Economy," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(3), pages 514-525, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:34:y:2020:i:3:p:514-525
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017019856798
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Duncan Gallie & Alan Felstead & Francis Green, 2012. "Job preferences and the intrinsic quality of work: the changing attitudes of British employees 1992–2006," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 26(5), pages 806-821, October.
    2. Rachel Parker, 2001. "The Myth of the Entrepreneurial Economy: Employment and Innovation in Small Firms," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 15(2), pages 373-384, June.
    3. Thomas Prosser, 2016. "Dualization or liberalization? Investigating precarious work in eight European countries," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 30(6), pages 949-965, December.
    4. Lea Cassar & Stephan Meier, 2018. "Nonmonetary Incentives and the Implications of Work as a Source of Meaning," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(3), pages 215-238, Summer.
    5. Michael Doherty, 2009. "When the working day is through: the end of work as identity?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 23(1), pages 84-101, March.
    6. Satz, Debra, 2010. "Why Some Things Should Not Be for Sale: The Moral Limits of Markets," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195311594, Decembrie.
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    Cited by:

    1. Craig Reeves & Matthew Sinnicks, 2024. "Totally Administered Heteronomy: Adorno on Work, Leisure, and Politics in the Age of Digital Capitalism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(2), pages 285-301, August.
    2. Karel Musílek & Kimberly Jamie & Mark Learmonth, 2024. "‘Money Probably Has Something to Do with My Life’: Discourse and Materiality in the Working Lives of Start-Up Entrepreneurs," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(5), pages 1285-1306, October.

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