Organization, Power, Subject - The theory and history of modern management and the rationalization of work

• Applicant: Dr. Nancy Richter
• Subject Area: Political Science
• Term: from 2013 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 241328350

Using a power‐based approach influenced by the works of Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault the author shows how the relationship between organizations and the worker has changed since the time of industrialization. Nowadays work is seemingly less constrained through rigid structures if one compares it to how it was accomplished in offices and on the factory floor in the early 20th century according to the principles of Scientific Management. Time stamp clocks or office hours are in many companies a thing of the past. However the author underlines that work is still regulated by the power of management although its power is less visible than ever before. Management methods are more subtle and objects for management control are increasingly the subjectivities of employees. They could be described as more tactical means of power meant to shape employees for the purposes of certain organizations. Management could be seen as a set of practices which has distinctive power affects on organizations and subjectivity. Material, symbolic and imaginary power relationships are applied as a framework emphasising how managerial practices manufacture employees in different historical contexts. Rationalization is then not only part of organizations but becomes inherent to employees and their working behaviour. These developments provide a new urgency and new areas of application for postmodern and critical theory work in organization and management studies. The author supports her argument by connecting historical, economic, sociological and philosophical theories and archival material. Her work is not only an important contribution to the research on Work and Organization Studies. It also provides a methodological foundation for the field of Critical Management Studies which still not receives enough attention in Germany while it is already an established field of study in Great Britain and Northern Europe.

• DFG Programme: Publication Grants