Won’t Get Fooled Again? Theorising Discursive Constructions of Novelty in the ‘New’ World of Work

Jeremy Aroles; Aurélie Leclercq-Vandelannoitte; John S. Hassard; William Foster; Edward Granter

doi:10.1177/09500170241300948

Won’t Get Fooled Again? Theorising Discursive Constructions of Novelty in the ‘New’ World of Work

Jeremy Aroles, Aurélie Leclercq-Vandelannoitte, John S. Hassard, William Foster, Edward Granter

The York Management School

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This article outlines how notions of novelty define today’s work practices and debates what the discursive construction of work as ‘new’ means. On the one hand, we highlight a misplaced emphasis on change and novelty that can lead to unnecessary dichotomization in the characterisation and discursive construction of work practices and organizational phenomena. On the other, we specify substantive continuities in a range of strategic, organizational and employment arrangements. As such, we contend that a critical evaluation of key characteristics of contemporary work reveals that they are often not unique. Instead, these characteristics reflect the extending, rebranding or reshaping of measures and processes fashioned in earlier forms of value production. Ultimately, we theorise how the promotion of the ‘new’ world of work reflects structures and practices somehow altered in appearance, yet still analogous in substance, to those found in the traditional employment and production fabric of organizations.

Original language	English
Number of pages	22
Journal	Work, Employment and Society
Early online date	30 Dec 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170241300948
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 30 Dec 2024

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

10.1177/09500170241300948Licence: CC BY-NC

Won’t Get Fooled Again? Theorizing Discursive Constructions of Novelty in the ‘New’ World of Work
© The Author(s) 2024
Final published version, 274 KBLicence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

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abstract = "This article outlines how notions of novelty define today{\textquoteright}s work practices and debates what the discursive construction of work as {\textquoteleft}new{\textquoteright} means. On the one hand, we highlight a misplaced emphasis on change and novelty that can lead to unnecessary dichotomization in the characterisation and discursive construction of work practices and organizational phenomena. On the other, we specify substantive continuities in a range of strategic, organizational and employment arrangements. As such, we contend that a critical evaluation of key characteristics of contemporary work reveals that they are often not unique. Instead, these characteristics reflect the extending, rebranding or reshaping of measures and processes fashioned in earlier forms of value production. Ultimately, we theorise how the promotion of the {\textquoteleft}new{\textquoteright} world of work reflects structures and practices somehow altered in appearance, yet still analogous in substance, to those found in the traditional employment and production fabric of organizations. ",

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AU - Foster, William

AU - Granter, Edward

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