Jrorking life is undergoing a rransformation in rhe sense rhar wffiî.'iiiilJ:;Hf fi:ï1ïïïïä'IJi:Xiîi,1#,i:ïï' regardless of whether those affected are quarifìeJproGssiorr"r, o, raborers, The framework that previously ,.gur"t.å the .ont.nt of work, as wel as when, where and how it wourd be conducted, is being reconsiáered, one aspect of new digital technologies concerns th" *rrrrr"i in which the work process is being monitored and controlled. workplace monitoring has existed for a rong time in different shapes ancl forms' Depending on the modes of production, worþrace monitoring has assumed various forms,_from counting and weighing orrrpu, "rrJ p"y,,'.rr, by_piece rare in pre-industrial socierylo clocking in and'punching out in industrial sociery @all, 2010; Negrey, 2012).In otherwords: surveinance in the workplace is nor a noverty (Lyor, 20r3/1gg4). Seen from the rogic of capitalism, it is not incongruous or unreasonable to expect that employers both have rights and reason to do so. However, in todayt workng life, many employees use companyllsitrt equipment privately as well as påGssionafly (Table 12'2; cf Paulsen, 2014). earùyìn r.rpårrr. ro rhis, there is an increasing availabiliry of relatively inexpensive and easy to use technology, such as sofrware monitoringprograms, which enable employers to expand rh. ,..rg" and scope of their control over their employees'".tiøti., (Fair-weather, iD6o¡.-This chapter aims ro higtrright worþlace moniroring in the digital era, which includes, for example, internet and email monitorini, rocation tracking, biometrics, and covert surveillance. The increase in potential methods to 181
A concept that lies at the heart of political rhetoric is that of 'workfare'. The issue, however, is what types of arguments have been invoked to assert the value of the concept. During the 1960s and 1970s, extensive criticism emerged towards a working life that was said to hinder women's emancipation; a working life that wasted resources and had a negative impact on the environment; a working life that sought material consumerism rather than quality of life. The demand for a work time reduction also received much support. In this article, we have studied the use of language that The Swedish Employers' Confederation used when publicly formulating their stances on the work time issue in 1975. We have chosen to highlight the argument contained in a discussion pamphlet published by Swedish Employers' Confederation, in a situation where the use of language was determined by the left-wing movement, and solidarity, international aid and daycare places were keywords, rather than growth and consumption. The arguments employed in the discussion pamphlet were based in the idea that non-work entails a lack of solidarity for social development. Those who desired a work time reduction were portrayed by Swedish Employers' Confederation as environmental villains and opponents to Time & Society 0(0) 1-23 Downloaded from the liberation of both oppressed women and the impoverished of the third world. Swedish Employers' Confederation's pamphlet can be regarded as an example on how capitalism may handle major criticism. By reversing the meaning of the core concepts of the criticism, opponents' arguments were assimilated, which contributed to a new rationalization of the capitalism. One of the major contributions from our study to the research field is an improved understanding of how this process developed.
I know that many ward managers sometimes feel frustration when people look into their office and say 'All right, there she is sitting at her computer again. Wonder what she's doing? Is she on the Internet or what?' (Hospital ward manager quoted in Rosengren & Ottosson 2007:162)
Who can you trust?The Swedish Confederation for Professional Employees (TCO) and trust-based working time 1950-1970 ** This article aims to provide a historical perspective to the emergence of trust-based control systems in the workplace. These systems are often seen as a response to increased flexibility requirements following the progress of digital technology, globalisation and an increased knowledge content in production. In contrary to this opinion, it is argued in the article that the phenomenon has much longer historical roots. Based on a theoretical discussion of the concept of "trust", the article discusses the Swedish Confederation for Professional Employees, TCO's, approach to working time regulation in the 1950s and 1960s. Through a discourse analytical approach, the article demonstrates that professional employees felt that trust-based elements were important in their professional identity. They were people that you could trust!
The article focuses on a current trend in office design: Activity Based Work (ABW). This is an office solution that instead of providing employees with designated places, it provides them with a variety of spaces in the office that offer different functionalities. A case study is presented of the ongoing effort of a multinational technology company in the software industry to implement ABW at a local site in Sweden. Based on an analysis of the individual and focus group interviews of company employees, the article argues that the non-territorial foundation of ABW is seen as a threat to the work-related identity among certain groups within the company. The findings presented comprise specific insights into how the material aspects of organizational life interact with social identity construction.
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