Class and the post-Fordist work ethic: Subjects of passion and subjects of achievement in the work society

Abstract

This article explores how the ‘post-Fordist work ethic’ contributes to the formation of classed subjectivities. Drawing on the work of Kathi Weeks, the article approaches the post-Fordist promise of self-realisation through work in terms of the individualised accrual of value that has become so central to the experience of class within the cultural politics of neoliberalism. Empirically, the article draws on a programme of research on the formation of young workers to describe two ideal typical manifestations of the post-Fordist work ethic, characterised as ‘subjects of achievement’ and ‘subjects of passion’, which reflect classed differences in the way that self-realisation through work is defined and experienced. In this way, the article argues that the contemporary work ethic is inflected with forms of class distinction that pre-date the shift to post-Fordism, and that these distinctions within the post-Fordist work ethic are critical to classed modes of contemporary subjectification. This differentiation reflects the ideological history of work and class under capitalism as well as the promise of individualised self-realisation that is so critical to subject formation in the post-Fordist present.

Youth, Work and ‘Career’ as a Way of Talking about the Self

“…These distinctions emerged as key factors shaping young people's definition of career. Other differences in young people's working identities are described in Farrugia (2019), especially in relation to social class and definitions of economic productivity. As is usual in qualitative research of this kind, the organisation of the analysis is therefore oriented towards theoretical elaboration, in this case developing the notion of career as a vocabulary of the self.…”

“…The empirical work of McDonald et al (2011) with school students shows that young people now perceive work as a realm for the creation of an 'autonomous' self, and there is an increased focus among young people on the cultivation of their own 'employability' as a way of responding to labour market uncertainty (Kelly and Harrison, 2009). The aspects of the self that are considered economically productive by young people are also becoming increasingly expansive, with young people describing all aspects of themselves as intertwined with their identities as workers and with their engagements with work (Farrugia, 2019). While a 'career' characterised by stable and predictable progression has become more structurally difficult to achieve, notions of employability, personal value and self-realisation through work appear to be becoming increasingly critical to the identities of contemporary youth.…”

“…However, contemporary career identities are formed within a post-Fordist situation in which labour market precarity coexists with the requirement to understand the self in terms of the accumulation of value (Skeggs, 2005). Working identities are where notions of value connect with the formation and experience of the self (Farrugia, 2019), and young people are now encouraged to view work as a realm of identity construction and passionate commitment (Kelly and Harrison, 2009). Contemporary 'therapeutic' cultures within late modern societies also emphasise notions of self-realisation and authenticity in the experience of the self at work (Potter, 2015).…”

Labour Market Demands, Employability and Authenticity

“…Even self-realisation through work is understood differently by young people with working-class backgrounds than it is by those from the middle class. In the formulation that is seen as more typical for the middle class, passionate investments lead to personal growth-in line with official demandswhile for the working-class self-realisation means recognisable achievements and upward social mobility (Farrugia 2019a(Farrugia , p. 1087; see also Simola 2021;Ikonen 2020). For youth that identify with the working class, authenticity can mean being true to one's background (Reay 2002) and not being pretentious (Skeggs 2011).…”

How youth become workers: Identity, inequality and the post-Fordist self

“…However, a focus on the cultivation of the self as a worker reveals new and more expansive dynamics through which young people approach work. I have focused exclusively on this process of self-cultivation in a previous article (Farrugia, 2019b), but return to this here to situate how these practices and self-definitions relate to economic precarity. This is particularly significant because of the significant classed differences in the forms of identity cultivated by young people in relation to the labour market.…”