Work and Personality in Flexible Capitalism

Abstract:The focus of this article is the relation between work and personality in flexible capitalism. The concept of work still represents one of the major factors determining modern individuals’ ability (or inability) to formulate personal, stable identities that enable them to become fully socialized. Both Georg Simmel and Max Weber among the classics of German sociology make reference to a common theoretical background that views the human being as a creature with originally rational potential, who is faced with the task of becoming a personality by means of consciously chosen life behaviour. Drawing from classic as well as contemporary sociological theory, the article explores the two spheres of identity and work in flexible capitalism. Despite the complexity of modern subjectivity and the great number of its affiliations, the sphere of work still remains the de facto decisive sphere for recognition, socialization, self-esteem, and self-definition. It remains the field in which the ‘decisive plays’ for definition of subjectivity take place — and the struggle for its possible emancipation.