Resisting work: the corporatization of life and its discontents

218 Pages·2015·6.806 MB·English

by  Fleming, Peter

Resisting Work

Resisting Work
The Corporatization of Life
and Its Discontents
PETER FLEMING
Temple University Press
Philadelphia
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122
www.temple.edu/tempress
Copyright © 2014 by Temple University
All rights reserved
Published 2014
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fleming, P. (Peter), 1972–
Resisting work : the corporatization of life and its discontents / Peter
Fleming.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4399-1112-9 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4399-1114-3 (e-book)
1. Corporate power. 2. Corporate culture. 3. Work environment. I. Title.
HD2351.F55 2014
306.3'6—dc23 2013042592
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992
Printed in the United States of America
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
Once upon a time leftists and radicals talked
of liberation or the abolition of work. Now the talk
is about full employment.
—Russell Jacoby, The End of Utopia

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Why Work? 1
1 Come as You Are: The New Corporate Enclosure
Movement 23
2 Common Matters 43
3 Why the Corporation Does Not Work: A Brief History 62
4 Corporate Culture and the Coming Bioproletariat 84
5 “Free Work” Capitalism 103
6 How to Resist Work Today 124
Conclusion: Working after Neoliberalism 145
Notes 161
References 175
Index 191

Acknowledgments
This book has benefited greatly from the many conversations
and debates I have had with colleagues and friends over the
past three years. My good friend Carl Cederström has been
a wonderful sounding board for many of the ideas explored here—as
has André Spicer, who continues to be a most supportive and critical
source of inspiration for me. Gerry Hanlon kindly listened to me for
many hours (usually at the Cat and Mutton Pub in Hackney, London)
as I elaborated on the arguments made in the following pages, and—
as always—the conversations that ensued helped clarify my ideas im-
measurably. And my old friend Marc T. Jones, the most critical critic
I know, still opens my eyes to the nature of capitalism, even after
twenty years of intense dialogue.
Colleagues from my years at Queen Mary College, University of
London, provided much intellectual support during the preparation of
this book—including Arianna Bove, Matteo Mandarini, and Stefano
Harney. During the early stages of the book-writing process, I pre-
sented papers at the Franklin Humanities Institute, Duke University,
where I benefited from the generous support of Fred Moten and Ian
Baucom. I presented portions of this book at Copenhagen Business
School and the University of Innsbruck, Austria, where I was most
fortunate to receive the great feedback and hospitality of Iain Munro,