The spectre of Dionysus: play, work, and managerialism
Abstract
Purpose
This conceptual paper analyses cultural changes in the use of the concept of “play” in managerial ideologies and practices since the 1980s.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses Koselleck's approach to conceptual history in order to map how play is used in new ways by contemporary organisations. Organisational cultures characterised by “playfulness” and “fun” are used as technologies of self‐governance. It explores a variety of sources which show how this metamorphosis of play into a management tool has occurred.
Findings
The appropriation of play by management indicates a significant propensity in the contemporary culture of work. A more complex cultural process is unfolding in the ways in which play and work are recombined and intertwined: work organisations are increasingly places where people work more on themselves than they do on work. Work has become a central therapeutic stage set for engineering and managing souls, well‐being and even “happiness”. In an increasing number of cases, highly managed play settings make corporations resemble frenetic Dionysiac machines in which the Narcissistic modern self seeks an utopia of perpetual fun.
Originality/value
The paper proposes a novel approach to critiques of managerialism. Equally, it offers a new conceptual avenue for the historical analysis of managerial ideas. The result is an original interpretation of the way in which management practices function in their wider cultural contexts.
Keywords
Citation
Costea, B., Crump, N. and Holm, J. (2007), "The spectre of Dionysus: play, work, and managerialism", Society and Business Review, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 153-165. https://doi.org/10.1108/17465680710757376
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited