The possibility of disalienated work: Being at home in alternative organizations

Abstract

Work organizations have long employed various management techniques in order to maximize workers’ engagement, which in itself implies that ‘alienation’ at work is common. One of the central descriptions of alienation in classic writings is the idea of not being ‘at home’ while at work. In this article, however, we explore its obverse, which we term ‘disalienation’ – a relationship to work based on assumptions concerning control and agency, aided by collective participatory mechanisms for identity construction and dialogical building of social relationships. We suggest that the concept and experience can be productively explored in the context of organizations which are owned and controlled by workers. Using ethnographic case studies from two Polish co-operatives, we discuss the potential characteristics of a disalienating relation to a work organization and suggest that co-operatives can provide a way for workers to be ‘at home’ while they are at work.

On the Biopsychosocial Costs of Alienated Labor

“…by advancing opportunities for greater autonomy, or by paying attention to opportunities for more creative engagement by workers), we believe that the alienation perspective allows for a richer view of work experience, as well as encouraging (as in our tripartite biopsychosocial division) a broader vision of the potential social and psychological consequences of work experience. New research also speaks to the question of how we can better 'disalienate' work as a means of reducing many of the negative health consequences of alienated work (Kociatkiewicz et al, 2020). As Kociatkiewicz and colleagues discuss and illustrate with two examples of more collective work structures, there: are ways to arrange work which enhance perceptions of agency and meaning, which we regard as evidence of disalienation (which is itself) a purposeful process, based on principles of workplace democracy and held together as a result of continual labours.…”

Leaderlessness in social movements: Advancing space, symbols, and spectacle as modes of “Leadership”

“…Our exploration of OL offers a multimodal repertoire of protest actions-space, symbols, and spectacles-that reveal how 'leadership' manifests in feminist forms within leaderless groups. As such, it provides a roadmap to reconstruct similar forms of selforganizing groups (Kociatkiewicz et al, 2020;Reedy & Learmonth, 2009) and practices of workplace democracy (Kokkinidis, 2012)…”

Workplace spirituality and social enterprise. A review and research agenda

“…Parker et al, 2014;Pearce, 1994;Teasdale, 2012). For instance, alternative organizations such as cooperatives provide workspaces that are worker controlled and owned, which enables disalienation or 'being at home' at work (see Kociatkiewicz et al, 2020). In this way, within the context of social enterprises, workplace spirituality and social entrepreneurship can have a complementary, mutually reinforcing relationship, which may be a promising avenue for future studies.…”

“…There has, however, been little research on workplace spirituality in alternative organizational forms such as social enterprises, where the intra-organizational structure, processes and ownership aspects usually stand in contrast to conventional management practices of hierarchy and control. Such an alternative context offers the possibility of disalienated work (Kociatkiewicz et al, 2020), which aligns with the spiritual perspective of self-work integration in which workers have autonomy and control over their work domain. This opens a promising area of research on workplace spirituality and its potential (mis) use in the social enterprise context.…”