Definitions
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Resistance
All definitions
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A historic, unitarist view
Resistance as "the outcome of structural relations of antagonism between capital and labour" (Knights & McCabe, 2000; in Thomas & Davies, 2005) is aligned with labour process theory (Thomas & Davies, 2005). Historically, resistance has been contexted as negative and referring to worker-management conflict. A pluralist, post-modern view More modern views of resistance are aligned with Foucault and his views on how power relations play out within organizations. Described from this perspective, "resistance... cannot be understood without recourse to the agency and subjectivity of labour. It is only through examining the ways in which staff interpret and respond to the demands made of them that resistance makes any sense" (Knights & McCabe, 1998, p. 173). To elaborate, "resistance makes little sense without a consideration of subjectivity," and it cannot be understood "without locating employees within a context of power and inequality" (Knights & McCabe, 1998, p. 173). References Knights, D, McCabe, D. (1998). 'What happens when the phone goes wild?:' Staff, stress and spaces for escape in a BPR telephone banking work regime. Journal of Management Studies, 35: 163-194. Knights, C, McCabe, D. (2000). 'Ain't misbehavin'? Opportunities for resistance under new forms of management.' Sociology, 34: 421-436. Thomas, R, Davies, A. (2005). Theorizing the micro-politics of resistance: New public management and managerial identities in the UK public services. Organization studies, 26: 683-706. Read a practice exam essay in response to the question:
"Employees are not just passive recipients of organisational policy but have an active, if limited, role in shaping it: Discuss the processes through which individuals and groups might try to exert influence on change in organizations." Exam essay practice answer |
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