Corporate Emotions and Emotions in Corporations

• Published in: The Sociological review (Keele) 2002-10, Vol.50 (2_suppl), p.90-112
• Main Author: Flam, Helena
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anger; Capitalism; Corporate culture; Emotions; Fear; Honour and shame; Labour; Organizational culture; Self-management; Social change
• ISSN: 0038-0261; 1467-954X
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.2002.tb03593.x

Although sociology of organizations never banned emotions from its field of inquiry, first the sociology of emotions elevated them to central research objects. Disparate research on various types of enterprises shows that both managers and employees are much more emotional than most scientists would care to admit. Under constant pressure not to display their fears, anxieties or worries, they have to balance a mixture of emotions attending solidarity and competition with their peers. Whereas managerial roles actually call for occasional displays of anger at subordinates, anger is beyond the pale for subordinates who are supposed to swallow anger, humiliation or fear. Capitalist labour, no matter whether this of managers or that of workers, exacts a heavy emotional toll. While in handling their work managers rely heavily on the emotional support of their peers and secretaries, employees spin nostalgic stories or take to subversive workplace humour. Against this broader perspective, Arlie Hochschild's research and its critique have focused exclusively on the workers' emotional toll. In centre of interest is emotional labour exacted by employers and the many ways of managing undesired feelings which this labour requires. Hochschild's critics stress that subordinates often find ways of evading supervision and playing with rules for emotional display, so that they are much less subject to emotion management than her research agenda implies. Although Hochschild's research and its echo produced the only coherent body of theory-guided research to emerge so far within the sociology of organizations under the influence of the sociology of emotions, the chapter ends with an argument that her valuable yet work-focused approach has become constraining in times of disjointed, turbulent capitalism. Social change demands that we enlarge our scope of inquiry to include the experience of lay-off and unemployment as well as work-unrelated emotions and the broader society into our purview.