Yannick Estienne's research on the impact of new governance modes on workers' autonomy within modern companies.
Extract
[...] The author understands this mutation as a facade of the consideration of the interests of workers who are ultimately confused with the wills of the companies to their detriment. However, we can nuance this approach by taking into account the integration of minorities: affirmative actions, mentorship of women specific to the postmodern organization. Thus, the critique of the text accounts for the author's will to give a partial, if not biased, point of view. In fact, although his statements are based and verified, they do not allow assuming the entirety of the object of the mutation of the notion of power within postmodern organizations, at the cost of omitting aspects that may seem positive. [...]
[...] Discussion critique on the text Although the study brought by the researcher brings the measure of our time in the so-called postmodern organization, it only partially reflects the condition of workers. In fact, the transition from a modern organization to a postmodern organization also characterizes advantages in terms of equal access to professional functions that the author does not highlight, even if they are obvious. We can particularly emphasize the importance of integrating women into leadership positions. This momentum was driven by political impetus and the integration of these wills within legislative and constitutional texts, leading to a reorganization within the recruitment policies of companies. [...]
[...] Indeed, within an organization as demanding as a bank, particularly due to the deadlines and topics handled, it is common to use management models that make workers autonomous: they are only asked for reports at the end. Therefore, this consideration of autonomy leads to a difficulty: deadlines for the worker are not announced. However, it is often impossible to complete tasks without working very late: 4 am, for example. Thus, I was able to notice and understand how the omission of a deadline can make the relationship disciplinary in the sense of Foucault. [...]
[...] It is from this change in mentality that a disorder occurs in the world of work: this recognition of the autonomy of work is in fact a deception according to the author. In fact, based on the works of philosophers such as Dufour, Deleuze and Foucault, he shows that the subject - the employee - is not able to live a truly fulfilling life within the professional environment because the format proposed within these new methods of work, considered as more 'cool', leads the 'subject [to give] himself entirely to his work.': there is a subjectivity through the injunction of the work discourse through disciplinary models. [...]
[...] These upheavals, particularly related to the mutation within the world of work linked to 'the use of new information and communication technologies. Therefore, note how these mutations have not led to a liberalization of workers, understanding the deep inscription of the hierarchical relationship within these new networks of organizations is the issue of the text written by the researcher, relying on Foucault's work on disciplinary models. This work invites to summarize the article by Yannick Estienne to inscribe it in the theoretical approach of researchers who are part of this dynamic to make a critique (III) and to express a concrete example from a personal experience (IV). [...]
