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The ethics of authenticity vs the bureaucratic ethos

The ethics of authenticity vs the bureaucratic ethos

nosos
skeptical

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Posted 03/21/08 - 04:30 AM: Subject: The ethics of authenticity vs the bureaucratic ethos	#1
In modern life we�re trapped between two competing imperatives. Our work life is dominated by rationalised bureaucracies that demand we fit ourselves into ever more rigid roles. In a corporate environment more competitive than ever, where the capacity to adapt to continually changing circumstances can mean the difference between success or failure, individual employees are expected to display the same adaptability. The room for individual agency is working life is diminished: at most we�re asked to determine efficient means towards ends transmitted to us through the hierarchy. There�s little or no room for individual morality or private conscience. The value of flexibility is prized above all else. The capacity to adapt to continually changing contexts is, more often than not, the condition for individual success. Being tied to a certain way of doing things, to focus on doing something well for its own sake or to have emotional attachments to the social context within which one works are increasingly seen as archaic under what many social theorists have described as flexible capitalism. On the other hand, our private life is shaped by a therapeutic culture that prizes authenticity. Each of us is seen to have �inner depths� that we must explore. The goal of our life should be self-actualisation: to find out �who we really are�. There�s an obvious incompatibility between these two imperatives. One governs our working life and one governs our private life. Is it possible to reconcile them? Any thoughts?
_____________________ "The men of the future will yet fight their way to many a liberty that we do not even miss? - Max Stirner "The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." - JS Mill "I'd rather be a crying little pussy than a faggy Goth kid." - Butters

unenlightened
Mysteriosopher

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Posted 03/21/08 - 12:16 PM:	#2
I'm not sure how you bring "ever more rigid roles" into "flexible capitalism", but for myself I seem to have roundly rejected the bureaucracies and corporate environments except as environments that I have to adapt or adapt to in the course of my 'self-actualisation' -(is that really how I want to describe my life?) There's not much point in trying to be authentic in relationship with institutions, but you can nearly always strike up a meaningful conversation with even the man who cold calls on the phone to sell you double glazing - My wife is particularly good at this... "You sound like a nice young man, how can you stand to work like this and talk like a machine, you should go and be an artist and do something creative."
_____________________ The observer is the observed. J Krishnamurti "Philosophy, to the Philistine, is an evolutionary process, watched over by some sort of brisk dynamic Providence, and culminating in the supreme insight of modern thought." John Cowper Powys

BitterCrank
Student

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Posted 03/26/08 - 11:17 PM: Subject: authenticity vs the bureaucratic	#3
Great post, Nosos. But you should be grateful that flexible capitalism creates a more customized exploitation experience for you than the clunky industrial kind. And when was capitalism ever interested in the moral concerns of its employees? I wish my private life was dominated by a culture that prized authenticity. I mostly find more of the same corporate culture crap that dominates work life. One can divide the capitalist workforce into 3 functions: The main function is production of profit. Either you manufacture something (axles, toilet paper, tax advice, whatever) or you manage the process. A second function is reproduction. That's is a bit dicy these days, because capitalism doesn't need as many workers as it used to need, and there are a lot of cheap ones in places where you don't live. So your boss may not care whether you reproduce. Capitalism does need more consumers, however, so maybe you can breed after all. Just make sure your children buy a lot. A third function of capitalism is maintenance. The social structure in which capitalism exists needs to be maintained. Workers have to nurtured, educated, policed, protected; streets have to be cleaned, repaired, rebuilt, etc. Both the physical stock and the human stock need to be kept in good enough shape. It is in the third function of the workforce - maintenance - that you run into the seemingly incompatible soft-sided human potential stuff, your authentic inner self, dream therapy, yoga, art fairs, bars, Mrs. Elizabeth II, porn shops, et al. Its there to help keep you functioning, distracted, amused, busy. Quiet. I have always worked in the human maintenance part of the US economy - the non-profit sector where the walking wounded are sent. The terms of work in human services isn't much different than the rules on the shop floor: One model of production, one round hole, fit, or go fuck yourself. I encourage your discontent and resistance. Good luck.
_____________________ If you can't fan the flames of discontent, at least don't join the fire department.

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