Journal ArticleDOI
Sabotage or Performed Compliance: Rhetorics of Resistance in Temp Worker Discourse
TLDR
In this article, the authors argue against resistant labor rhetoric that is ill-suited to present conditions of temp work, and advocate a rhetoric of "performativity" that enables temps to carve out their own definitional territory and seek advantage within an oppressive management culture.Abstract:
This essay analyzes contemporary temporary employment texts and the competing rhetorical definitions that shape the meanings of employment and identity in the contingent economy. Arguing against resistant labor rhetoric that is ill-suited to present conditions of temp work, the author locates and advocates a rhetoric of "performativity" that enables temps to carve out their own definitional territory and seek advantage within an oppressive management culture. Ultimately, rhetorical tactics of performativity enable resistant practices that are better suited to contingent situations, and show promise for new conceptions of identity for these and other disenfranchised members of the U.S. workforce.read more
Citations
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Take This Job and … : Quitting and Other Forms of Resistance to Workplace Bullying
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the narratives of 30 workers, some of whom where targeted and all of whom saw others being bullied, and discuss the paths of resistance, case outcomes, and dialectic nature of resistance and control.
Journal ArticleDOI
2 Old Assumptions, New Work: The Opportunities and Challenges of Research on Nonstandard Employment
TL;DR: The authors reviewed the literature on nonstandard work with three aims: to portray the breadth and nature of the research and theorizing to date, to document the challenges and opportunities this domain poses to both practice and theory, and to bring the study of non-standard work more to the center stage of micro-OB.
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Securing prosperity. The American labor market: how it has changed and what to do about it
TL;DR: A wide variety of interpretations are being put forward about the current state of American employment relations as discussed by the authors, and from the outside looking in, both these stories appear unconvincing.
Journal ArticleDOI
Falling between the Cracks Control and Communication Challenges of a Temporary Workforce
TL;DR: In this paper, a study illustrates some of the con-ture of temporary workers in the contingent labor industry through observations of industry practice and worker self-reports, and demonstrates that temporary workers are part of the quickly expanding and maturing contingent labour industry.
References
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Book
The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism
TL;DR: Workplace flexibility is the topic of Richard Sennett's new book, "The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism,” his latest analysis of class, work, and social relations as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Critical rhetoric: Theory and praxis
TL;DR: This article set forth a theoretical rationale for a critical rhetoric and presented eight "principles" to orient the critic toward the act of criticism, which can be seen as a transformative practice rather than as a method.
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Bodies (and Spaces) do Matter: The limits of performativity
TL;DR: In this paper, the insights and limitations within geography of Judith Butler's concept of "performativity" are explored, and a close and critical reading of Butler's theory is performed.
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The problem of hegemony: Rereading Gramsci for organizational communication studies
TL;DR: The authors argue that the received reading of hegemony as domination through consent has lead to a bifurcation of critical studies into two models of power: a dominance model, in which relations of power and resistance are conceptually resolved in favor of the reaffirmation of the status quo; and a resistance model, where resistance to structures of domination is valorized in a largely uncritical manner.