This book explores the relationship between the changing nature of capitalism and the creation of the new worker. In a changing global economy, work - as the activity that structures individuals in capitalism both socially and psychologically - is being undermined.
Combining a Gramscian critique of contemporary patterns of capitalist labour control with Lacanian psychoanalysis, Durand examines what kinds of human beings are emerging in and through modern work, or on its margins.
Creating the New Worker will be of interest to students and scholars who engage in the sociology and psychology of work, economics, and labour.

Revisits Gramscian notions by exploring the possibility of the emergence a new type of worker, shaped by the demands of the new workplaces of the early 21st century Provides an interesting blend of contemporary research with a return to long established theory demonstrating the relevance of the latter to the former Offers an integrated account derived from both critical Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis.

Autorentext

Jean-Pierre Durand is Professor of Sociology at Université d'Evry Paris-Saclay, France, and Editor-founder of La Nouvelle Revue du Travail.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Lean Management: The Invisible Revolution.- 3. The New Worker: Fractured Identities and Denied Recognition.- 4. The New Worker Dispossessed of Work.- 5. The New Worker in Service Activities.- 6. The Impossible Rationalisation of Service Activities.- 7. Two Scenarios for the Future.- 8. Conclusion: What Comes After Work.