Apologies for any cross-postings.
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November free-access article
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Please find details of the Human Relations November free-access article below – we hope you will enjoy reading it.
This article will be free to access until 30 November 2014.
Fantasies about work as limitless potential – how managers and employees seduce each other through dynamics of mutual recognition
Susanne Ekman
Human Relations 2013; 66 (9): 1159–1181, DOI: 10.1177/0018726712461812
http://hum.sagepub.com/content/66/9/1159
Abstract
This article draws on combinations of discourse theory and Lacanian theory to study the role of fantasies in creative knowledge work. It attempts to nuance a number of critical Lacanian studies that emphasize how management and HRM practices exploit the seductive, yet disciplining, effects of fantasies to increase worker commitment. In contrast, empirical data from fieldwork in two creative industries are used to show how employees also ensnare and discipline their managers based on the same fantasmatic dynamics. The article argues that both managers and employees avoid concrete definitions of responsibility in favor of intense mutual recognition. This allows them to pursue a shared fantasy about limitless potential (financial and existential) realized via work. This dynamic of recognition renders both parties more vulnerable towards each other and makes both parties resist attempts at moderation. The question of power and exploitation thus becomes highly muddled.
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OnlineFirst article previews published 6 to 27 October 2014
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To cite an article before it appears in print, please use the DOI number listed with the article.
The impact of China's new Labour Contract Law on socioeconomic outcomes for migrant and urban workers
Zhiming Cheng, Russell Smyth, and Fei Guo
Published online before print in Human Relations October 27, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0018726714543480
http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/10/23/0018726714543480?papetoc
The role of relational resources in the knowledge management capability and innovation of professional service firms
Na Fu
Published online before print in Human Relations, October 16, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0018726714543479
http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/10/16/0018726714543479.full.pdf+html
Global ends, local means: Cross-national homogeneity in professional service firms
Crawford Spence, Claire Dambrin, Chris Carter, Javier Husillos, and Pablo Archel
Published online before print in Human Relations, October 16, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0018726714541489
http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/10/16/0018726714541489?papetoc
Smell organization: Bodies and corporeal porosity in office work
Kathleen Riach and Samantha Warren
Published online before print in Human Relations October 9, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0018726714545387
http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/10/09/0018726714545387?papetoc
Humanized management? Capital and labour in a time of labour shortage in South China
Susanne YP Choi and Yinni Peng
Published online before print in Human Relations October 9, 2014, DOI: 0018726714541162
http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/10/09/0018726714541162?papetoc
Liminality, space and the importance of 'transitory dwelling places' at work
Harriet Shortt
Published online before print in Human Relations October 6, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0018726714536938
http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/10/06/0018726714536938?papetoc
Family interference and employee dissatisfaction: Do agreeable employees better cope with stress?
Smriti Anand, Prajya Vidyarthi, Satvir Singh, and Seungeui Ryu
Published online before print in Human Relations October 6, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0018726714539714
http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/10/01/0018726714539714?papetoc
Surface acting in service: A two-context examination of customer power and politeness
Jennifer L Wessel and Dirk D Steiner
Published online before print October 6, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0018726714540731
http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/10/01/0018726714540731?papetoc
Best wishes,
Claire Castle
Managing Editor, Human Relations
Email: c.castle@tavinstitute.org
Website: www.humanrelationsjournal.org
OnlineFirst forthcoming articles: http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/recent
Submission guidance: http://www.tavinstitute.org/humanrelations/submit_paper.html
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