The Corporatization of Life and Its Discontents
Peter Fleming"Peter Fleming is one of the world’s leading analysts of work. In Resisting Work , his stunning tour de force, he lifts the lid on neoliberalism's bullying use of biopower to control our lives and how we think of happiness, sadness, and everything in between. And he does so with lively prose, telling anecdotes, and a compelling blend of empirical and theoretical materials." —Toby Miller, author of Cultural Citizenship: Cosmopolitanism, Consumerism, and Television in a Neoliberal Age
"Resisting Work is a splendid and very useful addition to the burgeoning literature on contemporary work. Fleming adopts a theoretical standpoint, broadly aligned with the lineage of autonomist thought, but he extends it and clarifies employer practices and employee responses, ranging more succinctly over the evolution of management theory and the growth of corporations. As he builds on the basic autonomist precept that capital, or corporations specifically, is not an active creator of value, wealth, or employment, but rather a parasite that rides on the warm sociality of the commons, his arguments are persuasive." —Andrew Ross, author of Creditocracy and the Case for Debt Refusal
"(Fleming) argues that work has taken over our lives because we have internalized the need to work and produce at all times.... The book ultimately finds its niche among other works of applied critical theory and analyses of employee engagement, corporate culture, managerialism, capitalism, and meaningful work. Summing Up: Recommended." —Choice
"The core argument of the book is that neoliberalism and managerialism have proved themselves to be unworkable, undermining many of the social supports that they rely on to operate.... firmly grounded in critical and neo-Marxist perspectives, which inform its analysis and central conclusions.... (Its) strength comes from its juxtaposition of debates that usually take place within different communities.... (I)t is thought provoking to reconsider these questions from the perspective of exploitation and class struggle. Some of the most compelling material lies in the analysis of how earlier approaches to management by culture have given way to a system in which workers are encouraged not to conform to corporate culture but rather to bring their whole selves to work in order to better benefit the firm... The book makes many intriguing points... (and) provides a valuable perspective on extremely timely and important issues." —Administrative Science Quarterly
"Fleming argues that our very lives are becoming corporatizationalized and that it is now increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to separate the work self from the private self. This phenomenon comes not from individuals choosing to invest more of their time and energy into their work, but rather from people being forced, most often implicitly, into breaking down the barriers that separate the public and private spheres.... Fleming’s prose and use of vignettes, stories, and data help to provide any reader with a solid command of the material by the end of the book. Resisting Work is important for anyone interested in the changing nature of work and what it means for the lives of the workers." —Contemporary Sociology
"Fleming outlines a progression of capitalist management through several eras. Fleming closes this interesting book with a section proposing that in the current era, in which work has penetrated all of life, the only effective response is an 'exit' from work, where workers refuse to demand recognition but instead silently turn away. This, too, is not a new idea in the world of work resistance but is provocative nonetheless.... Resisting Work is a substantial and worthwhile read for theoreticians." —Labor Studies Journal