The Psychologization of Work: the Deregulation of Work and the Government of Wills

Abstract

Psychologisation is a particular way of constructing the modern individual, for which the technology of a certain type of psychology is essential. Moreover, psychologisation is not only a model for individuals, but also a discursive practice forming and legitimating it. Consequently, individuals can be held responsible for situations out-with their control, in turn, leading to the paradoxical situation whereby a discourse affirms precisely that which it negates. Such paradoxical rhetoric is epitomised in discourse pertaining to the labour market crisis, in particular, we will argue, within the example of flexicurity discourse. This article aims to examine the discourse on flexicurity emanating from one of the most important agencies for the construction, and dissemination of work ideologies, and representations of unemployment in the EU: the European Union institutions. Flexicurity, a mixed notion aiming to reconcile that which appears irreconcilable, is the specific term designating a new political strategy for the management of employment and social security, which, for all intents and purposes, refers to workers‘ moral duty to participate in the self-regulation of their ‗own‘ life. In this polyphonic production process, antithetical discourses are conjoined in a paradoxical process of meaning. Hence, whilst, at once, being a discourse that regulates will and boosts individuals‘ capacity to take responsibility for their own life, concomitantly, it also undermines collective resources (both conceptual and institutional), potential mechanisms through which workers could exercise control over the asymmetrical nature of employment situations which make them vulnerable.