I’ve been reading Richard Sennett’s ‘The culture of the New Capitalism’ over the past couple of days. It’s really good. Packed full of insightful ideas.
One of his ideas is that in the mid-C20th large multi-national corporations (e.g. IBM) and public-sector organisations (e.g. teaching profession, NHS) provided, for many middle-class professionals a compelling ‘life-narrative’. People working for these organisations identified their lives with the narratives provided by the organisations worked for. Despite the organisation being an ‘iron cage’ that was restrictive and bureaucratic you gained a structure to your life. The breakdown of these monolithic organisations in the 90s through its focus on the ‘new economy’ with outsourcing, flexible working, constant restructuring and emphasis on dynamism and change has left these professionals without a compelling life-narrative. So these people feel lost, at sea, adrift in their own lives.
I can see some of the sense of this. But I guess I have more sympathy with the critiques of ‘organisation man’ than I do with feeling a need to have my life-narrative provided by the organisation I work for. (Of course, this is just me – the people he is talking about may, clearly, feel quite differently).
But why should people need a life-narrative from the organisation they work for.?(Setting aside the benefits there may to the organisation of the people working for them feeling deeply committed to it). I buy the fact that people need a life-narrative to help make sense of the world and their place in it. But why can’t this come from other sources?
e.g. a few days ago I was in a bit of a melancholy mood, feeling a bit adrift. Coincidentally it happened at the same time as I was reading the Sennett book. Was I feeling adrift because I’m not in an organisation anymore? Because I’m over 30 and (according to Sennett) therefore more likely to be feeling useless and subject to age-descrimination?
I doubted it. And realised that I didn’t have a novel on the go. This is always a bad idea – not reading fiction is not healthy for me. So I picked up Auster’s Travels in the Scriptorium. Immediately I got that sense of calmness and rush of relaxation that comes when I’m off with a novel. That’s what I’d needed !
I think that, for me, I get some of my ‘life-narratives’ through reading fiction. Through living other peoples lives in my imagination and internalising these lives into my own. Presumably other people have other sources of life-narratives outside work. Surely ?
On Radio 1 a few weeks ago I heard a fashion commentator say that she thought the reason so many peopl (women) queued up for the launch of things like Kate Moss’s new collection was because people don’t have many hobbies anymore beyond shopping. Shopping is the most common hobby now. But is this satisfying as a life-narrative?
Maybe this is partly to do with it – we mostly need to get life-narratives from outside ourselves: from our interaction with bodies of thought and people. And if you don’t have much in your life beyond work, shopping and consuming entertainment then the loss of a life-narrative provided by work is going to be extremely disorientating.
So the conclusion – people need more interactive activities they choose to participate in beyond work? (As opposed to trying to go back to getting life-narratives from organisations – trying to promote more professionalism especially in the public-sector.)
Not sure.
Incidentally though, funny how reading novels doesn’t seem to me to be ‘consuming entertainment’. Of course it’s obvious why. It’s so much more sophisticated than watching Big Brother, 24 or American Idol, isn’t it. Requires the imagination so much more – you have to be much more active – engage the brain so much more. So much superior. Isn’t it?
