During the course of an essay on Keith Moon and the pleasures of drumming (‘The Fun Stuff‘, The New Yorker, 29 November 2010) James Wood writes: Georges Bataille has some haunting words about how the workplace is the scene of our domestication and repression: it is where we are forced to put away our Dionysianism. TheContinue reading “School as Preparatory Space for the Workplace”
Tag Archives: workplace coercion
The ‘Adversarial’ Nature of Unions
One of the strangest objections to the presence of unions in the workplace is that unions make the workplace adversarial, that they introduce conflict into the relationship between the worker and the manager (or between the two classes), that rather than letting workers and management concentrate on maximizing output (or throughput) and enterprise profit, whichContinue reading “The ‘Adversarial’ Nature of Unions”
Narrowing the American Dream to Exclude the American Worker
My sister-in-law works as a labor organizer for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). I’m proud of the work she does and remain resolutely convinced that her efforts to facilitate the unionization of workers count among the most important contemporary attempts to reform the American workplace and reduce income inequality. ButContinue reading “Narrowing the American Dream to Exclude the American Worker”
Bosses Call For Mass Harakiri In Event of Obama Victory
In what some election observers are terming an ‘extreme, possibly misguided–and certainly un-American in its excessive Japaneseness–response’ to the US Supreme Court’s Citizens’ United decision freeing companies from restrictions on using corporate funds to endorse and campaign for political candidates, several large American employers have called for mass, public harakiri in the event that Barack ObamaContinue reading “Bosses Call For Mass Harakiri In Event of Obama Victory”
Misery Needs Company, Contd.
Misery Needs Company, Part Deux prompted a series of useful comments from readers Melon, Dan K., and JR. I’m going to respond here to a central thread therein. As Dan K. asks, ‘Are luxurious union contracts contributing in a significant way to our economic problems’? (By ‘economic problems,’ I presume state budgets like Wisconsin’s are atContinue reading “Misery Needs Company, Contd.”
Misery Needs Company, Part Deux: Scapegoating Unions
Reader JR left an interesting comment yesterday, responding to my post ‘Misery Needs Company: The American Worker’s Hostility Toward Unions.’ Rather than excerpt it here and respond piecemeal, I’m going to just write a few thoughts prompted by it. (Please do read the comment in full.) There are, I think, two points that are being conflatedContinue reading “Misery Needs Company, Part Deux: Scapegoating Unions”
Misery Needs Company: The American Worker’s Hostility Toward Unions
In the midst of a Facebook discussion about the possible reasons for Scott Walker’s victory in Wisconsin, a participant stated, [T]here is an incredible amount of hostility towards Unions, and a unique hostility towards Public-Sector Unions. If you look at what the Unions were fighting for it’s very hard for a private sector employee toContinue reading “Misery Needs Company: The American Worker’s Hostility Toward Unions”
Earnin’ a Livin’ With Humiliation as a Perk
A New Yorker cartoon from last year shows a woman walking out from her boss’ office and saying to a co-worker, “That’s the worst humiliation I’ve been subjected to this week.” Or something like that. We laugh, a little nervously, or perhaps wince just a little, because the punchline hits home. Or we breathe aContinue reading “Earnin’ a Livin’ With Humiliation as a Perk”
Ozzie Guillen, the First Amendment in the Workplace, and Bromance
The Florida Marlins’ suspension of its manager Ozzie Guillen for his ‘pro-Castro’ remarks provides yet another teachable moment about the First Amendment and its relationship to the workplace. (Guillen has been suspended for five games.) Guillen’s original remarks read: I love Fidel Castro. I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people haveContinue reading “Ozzie Guillen, the First Amendment in the Workplace, and Bromance”
Workplace Coercion, the Military, and Resisting Superiors
Corey Robin’s post on Arizona’s new anti-birth control legislation centers on a recurring concern of his: coercion in the private sector work-place, which remains largely impervious to constitutional circumscriptions of state power. I want to use this opportunity to talk about coercion in a very particular workplace: the military. The coercion of subordinates by superiorsContinue reading “Workplace Coercion, the Military, and Resisting Superiors”
Samir Chopra 