Linhart, Danièle

The new bodies of capitalism - 2019.


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This article aims to identify the nature the management of the bodies of employees in the context of “post Taylorian” work. In spite of work becoming increasingly abstract, the spatial organisation of bodies and the focus on bodily well-being, have an important place in modern management, which may seem intriguing. The assumption is made here that it is a question of modelling the identity and representations of the executives, engineers, and experts, making them aware that they are subordinate employees like the others, by managing their spatial inscription which evokes for them the image of controlled work forces. If Taylorism aimed to bring man closer to the machine state, modern management uses bodies as vectors of disciplinarisation, the only identity incorporated being that of a subordinate, an individual experience comprised of narcissistic aspirations and satisfactions linked not so much to respect for professionalism but to a benevolent concern for well-being.