Work

Parasitic universes: Organisational and technological meddling in the social

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: Debates about technology theorising ‘the social’ solely ondyadicandfixed positionalterms fail to grasp important ways that new financial technologies participate in work organisations. As an alternative, we build on the work of Michel Serres to propose that these technologies already inhabittriadicandrelationalparasitic universes in which they introduce interruptions that do much more than mediate between degrees of technological and social determinism. To understand the forms of agency this affords, we analyse two contrasting studies of workplaces where financial technologies were introduced. In a UK non‐profit social care organisation, relations of care were fundamentally disrupted by disorderly, dysfunctional forms of agency, whereas in UK retail banking, management used disorder to strategically obscure their own agency. Technological innovation and ‘future of work’ narratives are shown to feed each other, in service to interests that benefit from the repurposing of technologies, people and organisations.

Source: New Technology Work and Employment

DOI: 10.1111/ntwe.12253

Authors: Simon Bailey, Marc Lenglet, Gemma Lord, Dean Pierides, Daniel Tischer

Institutions: University of Kent, NEOMA Business School, The Open University, Newcastle University, University of Sheffield

Language: English

Topic: Information Systems Theories and Implementation

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,500