The therapeutization of work : The psychological toolbox as rationalization device during the third industrial revolution in Sweden

The organization of work in the Western welfare states has made use ofpsychological know-how since the early twentieth century, for instanceby making the practices of ?psychotechnics? and ?human relations? apart of the production apparatus. The last decades, however, haveseen the development of a ne [...]
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The organization of work in the Western welfare states has made use ofpsychological know-how since the early twentieth century, for instanceby making the practices of ?psychotechnics? and ?human relations? apart of the production apparatus. The last decades, however, haveseen the development of a new economy based on information andcommunication technologies and with a related shift in organizationalideals from large hierarchical structures to networks of self-governingunits ? a change sometimes labelled the third industrial revolution.This development has meant new possibilities for the deployment ofpsychological knowledge in organizational management.The present study takes as its geographical starting point thegreater Stockholm area in Sweden. Through a variant of multi-sitedfieldwork it investigates the distribution of psychological know-howin and through different institutions ? such as school, work life,health care ? by which the average ?worker-citizen? is supposed toacquire a ?psychological toolbox?, thus becoming a kind of amateurpsychologist or therapist, ready and able to take responsibility forhis or her own productivity, well-being and health. The study depictsthis ideal of psychological self-regulation: its discourse and practices,and how it emerged as a part of the technological and organizationaldevelopments of the third industrial revolution.