Dreaming Identities by Elizabeth G. Traube

Author:Elizabeth G. Traube [Traube, Elizabeth G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Gender Studies
ISBN: 9780429719332
Google: _iqNDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-03-04T03:45:57+00:00

Corporate Shape-Changers

If the creation of the consumer society eroded the ethic of self-denial, the bureaucratization of work dramatically altered the social conditions of mobility and success. Beginning in the mid-1800s and gathering force in this century, bureaucratization transformed the American middle classes from small producers into white-collar employees dependent on large organizations. Within these organizations the new work force was hierarchically divided. At the top there grew up an internally stratified, overwhelmingly male, class of salaried managers and professionals; at the bottom bureaucracy required an ever-increasing clerical labor force that came to be and remains dominated by women.

The cultural consequences of these massive changes in the organization of work have interested historians and sociologists for decades, and a considerable literature exists on the occupational cultures of modern bureaucratic corporations.1 Central to my concern with success mythology is the position developed most fully by Robert Jackall (1988) in his important study of corporate managers. Jackall shows in fine detail how bureaucracy strikes at the very core of the old work ethic by breaking the connection between work and reward.

Under the semipatrimonial conditions of corporate bureaucracies, advancement after a certain point depends less on specific skills or achievements than on a multifaceted ability to please and impress those with power (Jackall 1988: 11–12; Kanter 1977: 73–74). Work alone does not confer success in the bureaucratic world; one’s superiors must also appreciate the work one does, and this requires adroit self-presentation. For the aspiring corporate executive, the main task is to make oneself appear as one of the elect in the regard of others by projecting the well-staged impression at the well-timed moment.

In this distinctive version of the Protestant Ethic, mastery of the techniques of image management is essential (Jackall 1988: 192, 203). The persistence of egalitarian rhetoric within hierarchical organizations gives rise to a distinctive form of bureaucratic practice in which participants are required to mask the authority relations they enact. Thus one should defer to a superior without appearing deferential; the valued style for superiors is friendly and open, without loss of authority. External appearance and overall manner also contribute to making the right impression. Speech, dress, and bearing should convey a sense of poised ease—a quiet, relaxed self-confidence that distinguishes those at or bound for the top. In this managerial version of aristocratic style, disarming charm, cosmopolitan taste, and sophisticated wit enhance the crucial abilities to handle situations and people with agility and finesse (Jackall 1988: 46–59). Whether it is a matter of smoothly shifting blame onto a co-worker or of enacting frankness at precisely the right juncture in a dialogue, mastery of the dominant social style is an indispensable asset.

Where image displaces essence, one learns to manage appearances with unflagging vigilance. What matters is how closely one can transform oneself to meet the organizational ideal, and this requires relentless self-scrutiny and a capacity for self-rationalization (Jackall 1988: 59–62). Within the terms of the bureaucratic ethic—the largely implicit rules for survival and success in corporate bureaucracies—spontaneity of any sort is

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.