The sociologist Denis Colombi, author of who really works (Ediciones Payot) highlights that the work will gain visibility, once again becoming a “question of struggle” both in companies and in public debate.
In his work, a process of “increasing invisibilization” of work stands out. In his opinion, it is based in particular on biased representations…
The way in which politicians approach the issue allows us to fully understand the weight of these representations. When, for example, they portray their relationship with work, when they want to talk about “the France that gets up early”, many of them go to the Rungis international market. It is an image that will eclipse other work situations, such as that of supermarket cashiers who finish late, or that of housewives who also get up early to take care of their children and do housework… Many professions – in services, for example. – they go “off the radar”, because they do not correspond to the image we have of the work.
The process of invisibility also occurs within companies. How can work organization contribute to this?
Many mechanisms make understanding the work performed more complex. The atomization of tasks, for example. With this division of labor, it becomes more difficult to explain one’s mission, to account for it, to say, basically, what one’s purpose is. At the same time, today’s work is largely about activities that are not so much about doing something but about making it possible for others to do it. Another factor of complexity: professions evolve and become “bureaucratized,” as sociologist Béatrice Hibou demonstrates, citing the case of nurses who must fill out numerous documents before and after their medical procedures.
More generally, you believe that the invisibility of work is “deeply inscribed in the dynamics of capitalism.” So that ?
It is an idea that may seem, at first, contradictory. In fact, capitalism has put work center stage and encourages us to think of it as a specific activity. But, at the same time, it will participate in that invisibility. First of all, answering the question “Who really works?” »: highlights those who own the capital and not the workers. Thus, it is the innovators, the creators, those who control and make decisions who “make” the economy. However, it is not Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, who is in the warehouse preparing the packages and then ensuring their delivery.
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