Work, Labour, Spiritual Homelessness, and the Construction of Meaning
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WORK, LABOUR, SPIRITUAL HOMELESSNESS, AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING Jennifer Robinson BA (Hons), MA (Lancaster University) April 2020 Lancaster University This thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Organisation, Work and Technology DECLARATION This thesis is my own work, and has not been submitted in substantially the same form for the award of a higher degree elsewhere. 2 FUNDING This thesis was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. 3 ABSTRACT This thesis explores the relational dynamic that exists between metaphysical belief and the economic cosmos, and how this relationship manifests in technically advanced societies that have undergone processes of secularisation through activity referred to as “work”. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this thesis critically examines claims made by Organisational literature that the incorporation of “religious” and “spiritual” belief in the workplace is an inherent good for the organisation and their employees’ through contemporary sociological analysis of religion and the works of Weber (1905), Nietzsche (1888, 1889), Arendt (1958) and Berger (1964, 1973). Highlighting the condition of homelessness that results when previous taken-for-granted collective frameworks of belief are no longer invested with faith through which to conceive existence as meaningful or purposeful, such theoretical analysis underpins discussion of the “problem of work” identified by Berger to manifest in contexts that have undergone technical advancement and processes of secularisation. Providing historical contextualisation of the subsequent rise of soft capitalist Human Resource Management strategies, rhetoric and practices that seek to “bring life back to work” through the incorporation on (non)conceptual values, aspirations and ideals, this thesis considers what significance the nature and character of work poses in the contemporary Western UK context that is predominantly characterised by a condition of homelessness. Adopting a nominalist, social constructivist lens, through qualitative in-depth interviews that explore the theoretical arguments raised in Chapters One, Two and Three, this thesis draws on Arendt’s distinction between activities of work, works of art and activities of labour to outlines how organisationally designed roles are inherently damaging to the human condition, and particularly for those who are spiritually homeless who construct a “home” for their being within their place of employment because such activities constitute labour as opposed to work. It argues that contemporary organisations that mis-appropriate rhetoric, practices and techniques originating from metaphysical traditions and secondary institutions capitalise on the need of the human condition to construct meaning relative to material existence by making activities of labour appear to function as activities of work. Encouraging the alignment of being to organisational aims and objectives by obscuring the alienated condition of being that results when activities of labour are undertaken as opposed to activities of work and works of art by promising what most want to hear and believe, this thesis argues that soft capitalist approaches encourage human resources to break their spirit in pursuit of (non)conceptual ideals by requiring them to put their beliefs, values and desires secondary to organisational demands. Simply, the more human resources invest in soft capitalist “homes” and strive “to become” through the performance of labour, the more they cease to recognise what it is “to be” human. This thesis thus concludes that desires to attain neoliberal (non)conceptual ideals such as “happiness”, material and personal “betterment” and “self-actualisation” in material reality is in fact passive self-annihilation that results from (non)conceptual idolatry and slavery, and faith placed in the economic cosmos in order to cope with the loss of metaphysical homes. Keywords: the death of God, the problem of work, work, labour, Arendt, work ethics, homelessness, Berger, material being, soft capitalism, self-actualisation, self-annihilation 4 WORK, LABOUR, SPIRITUAL HOMELESSNESS, AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 8 FOREWORD 9 INTRODUCTION 11 IDENTIFYING THE GAP 13 RESEARCH AIMS AND INTENTIONS 15 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 17 CONTRIBUTIONS 25 CHAPTER 1: ‘BRINGING LIFE BACK TO WORK’? AN EXPLORATION OF THE ACTIVITY OF WORK FOLLOWING THE SUBJECTIVE SPIRITUAL TURN 28 METAPYHSICAL BELIEF: THROUGH THE LENS OF ORGANISATION STUDIES 29 WORKPLACE SPIRITUALITY: AN OVERVIEW 32 WORKPLACE SPIRITUALITY: A CRITIQUE 34 ORGANISATION STUDIES INCLUSION OF METAPHYISCAL BELIEF: THROUGH THE LENS OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES 42 PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSUMPTIONS 43 RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY 45 THE LOGIC OF THE MARKET 46 THE INSIDER/OUTSIDER DEBATE 47 A CRITIQUE OF WORKPLACE SPIRITUALITY AND CRITICAL WORKPLACE SPIRITUALITY THROUGH THE LENS OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES 49 CONTEXTUAL DIFFERENCES 53 ASSUMPTIONS OF THE “SELF” 54 CHAPTER SUMMARY 55 CHAPTER 2: THE PROBLEM OF WORK, THE RE-ENCHANTMENT OF THE WEST AND THE SPIRITUALISATION OF THE WORKPLACE 58 THE PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC 59 THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM 61 THE DEATH OF GOD 64 THE PROBLEM OF WORK 68 SECULARISATION 69 TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENT 71 HOMELESS MINDS 74 SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS 76 HOMELESS MINDS TODAY 81 SOFT CAPITALIST SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS 82 SOFT CAPITALIST SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS: SOME CONTENTIONS 89 CHAPTER SUMMARY 95 5 CHAPTER 3: BRINGING LIFE BACK TO WORK OR MAKING WORK FROM LABOUR? AN EXPLORATION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NATURE AND CHARACTER OF WORLDLY ACTIVITY 100 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WORLDLY ACTIVITY TO THE HUMAN CONDITION 102 ACTIVITIES OF WORK 106 WORKS OF ART 107 ACTIVITIES OF LABOUR 108 EMPLOYMENT IN CONTEMPORARY LABOURER’S SOCIETIES 113 MAKING LABOUR APPEAR AS WORK 115 MAKING WORK FROM LABOUR: SOME CONTENTIONS 118 THE INCOMPATIBILITY OF ORGANISATIONALLY DESIGNED ROLES AND THE SELF-WORK ETHIC 119 THE CONTINUATION OF THE ECONOMIC COSMOS 122 THE CAPITALISM OF SPIRITUALITY 123 (NON)CONCEPTUAL IDOLATRY AND SLAVERY 126 ORGANISATIONAL CONTROL OVER BEING 128 PERPETUAL AGITATION 130 THE PARADOXICAL PROVISION OF HOMES 132 CHAPTER SUMMARY 133 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH: THE DESIGN 139 ONTOLOGICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS 140 ONTOLOGICAL ASSUMPTIONS 140 EPISTEMOLOGICAL ASSUMPTIONS 142 RESEARCH METHODS 147 RATIONALE 147 DATA COLLECTION 149 DATA ANALYSIS 154 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 156 CHAPTER SUMMARY 158 CHAPTER 5: SPIRITUAL HOMELESSNESS AND THE APPROACH TO WORLDLY ACTIVITY 162 SPIRITUALLY HOMELESS MINDS 162 HUMAN-INSPIRED ACTIVITIES OF WORK 165 MAKING WORK FROM LABOUR 169 SUSTAINING THE ILLUSION OF LABOUR 173 CHAPTER SUMMARY 180 CHAPTER 6: SELF-ACTUALISATION OR SELF-ANNIHILATION? AN EXPLORATION OF SOFT CAPITALISM AND ITS IMPACT TO BEING 185 SOFT CAPITALIST SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS 186 ORGANISATIONALLY DESIGNED ROLES 186 6 ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXTS 191 THE CAPITALISM OF SPIRITUALITY 195 SOME CONSEQUENCES TO BEING 203 CHAPTER SUMMARY 216 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS 219 LOOKING TO THE FUTURE 242 FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF STUDY 245 REFERENCES 253 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are not the words to express the thanks that is due. With thanks from a distance, this thesis would not have been written without the musical soundtrack that accompanied this process. My thanks go to (in no particular order): John Denver; Arvo Part; Break my fucking sky; Tycho; Deadmaus; Hermigervill; Eminem; Die Antwoord; Kreayshawn; Monkey Safari; Bob Dylan; Ludovico Einaudi; Linkin Park; Those Who Ride with Giants; Terrestrial_Exitium; God is an Astronaut; Kolsch; Vanessa Carlton; Joepp franssens; Dizraeli; Wu Tang Clan; Olafur Arnalds; Kesha; Schubert; Max Richter; Phillip Glass; Mumford and Sons; Waterboys; Hildegard Von Bingen; Amy Winehouse; Kiasmos. Similarly, the words, reflections and insights of T. S. Eliot, R. Graves, A. E. Housman and W. Blake that capture sentiments of the human condition and its world run through this thesis. The same must also be said of the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Alan Watts and Adam Curtis, whose narratives, perspectives and outlooks provided a bedrock for my understanding of the contemporary milieu. Personally, there are also many people to thank. Most obviously, I am thankful to my supervisors, Chris Partridge and Pete Thomas, for taking a chance on me, and trusting me to work it out. I’m sorry for all the incoherent and illegible drafts that you had to take time out of your busy lives to read! I must also thank Judy and Brian at Deans Rough farm for the peace and tranquillity of the Chicken house, which enabled me to regain perspective when I had lost all rhyme and reason. I also extend my thanks to Joanne Wood, without whose help this thesis would not have been completed, and whose words of encouragement helped me through some extreme lows. The same sentiment is also extended to Sarah Moorhouse for giving me the occasional mental slap needed to keep going. To my friends at large: you will never know how much your friendship means to me: I am truly blessed. I could not not include thanks also to my dear, beloved kitten (not-so-kitten) Meg, who brightened up the darkest day during the writing of this thesis pre-Viva. There will never be a day that your presence is not missed. Regarding my parents and sister, thank-you for patience and for reading through parts of this thesis. In particular, I thank my dad for making sure we never grew up under the spell of the promise of the economic cosmos. I also extend my thanks to Bogdan Costea. You put me through my paces, academically