The Repertoire of Employee Opposition

Unruly Subjects: Misbehaviour in the Workplace

“…As the boundaries within and between life and work change, so we can expect a diversity of new forms of misbehaviour, some of which are already discernible and many more of which remain just below the current horizon of our perception. For the social scientist the task in hand is to remake conceptual boundaries so that the new 'repertoires of opposition' at work (Bélanger and Thuderoz, 2010) can be more clearly seen for what they are.…”

“…This trend was reinforced by studies informed by LPT that showed evidence of resistance and misbehaviour in the ostensibly surveillance-intensive environment of call centres (Taylor and Bain 2003;Callaghan and Thompson 2002). Nor was this merely a local dispute, as Bélanger and Thuderoz's (2010) excellent account of parallel French debates indicates. Space constraints compel us to focus on how the main 'end of resistance' debate then unfolded.…”

“…Some the necessary correctives to these approaches are definitional and conceptual. It is important first of all to dispense with resistance as a generic catchall and to re-make the conceptual boundaries within and between 'repertoires of opposition' at work (Bélanger and Thuderoz 2010), distinguishing between resistance and misbehaviour. Resistance should be considered as an intentional, active, upwardly-directed response to threats to interests or identities (see Karlsson 2012 for more discussion of definitions and differentiation).…”

The nature of front-line service work: distinctive features and continuity in the employment relationship

“…As noted by Hyman, 'capital is thus faced with essentially contradictory requirements: to limit the discretion which workers may apply against its interests; and to harness the willing application to profitable production of that discretion which cannot be eliminated ' (1987: 40). The current development of more abstract, less tangible and more emotional labour in the post-industrial economy makes the problem of control and consent in some ways harder for management (Bélanger and Thuderoz, 2010).…”

Décalage entre le portrait de la réalité et la réalité du portrait. Daniel Mercure et Mircea Vultur. 2010. La signification du travail. Nouveau modèle productif et ethos du travail au Québec, Québec, Les Presses de l’Université Laval.

“…D'une manière plus précise encore, les Professionnalistes et les Égotélistes, les deux fi gures du travail les plus en phase avec le nouveau modèle capitaliste, recherchent la réalisation au travail et c'est précisé-ment ce que leur offre l'entreprise dans le nouveau modèle productif. Dans ce que l'on pourrait considérer comme une autre contribution aux thèses sur la disparition de la résistance au travail (Bélanger et Thuderoz, 2010), il y aurait donc une véritable symétrie de valeurs entre l'individu et l'entreprise, d'où seraient absents les paradoxes, les tensions et les contradictions. Comment l'expliquer ?…”