I Used to Care but Things Have Changed A Genealogy of Compassion in Organizational Theory

We explore the use of compassion as a technology of power and subjectivity within organizations. Using a genealogical method, we trace the history of concern with compassion in organizations as a mode of employee discipline. The article applies a perspective developed from Foucault, focused on power...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of management inquiry Vol. 23; no. 4; pp. 347 - 359
Main Authors Simpson, Ace V., Clegg, Stewart, Pitsis, Tyrone
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2014
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Employee management relations
Management theory
Organization theory
Organizational change
Research methodology
Studies
management history
power and politics
positive organizational scholarship
ethics
organization theory
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ISSN1056-4926
1552-6542
DOI10.1177/1056492614521895

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Summary:We explore the use of compassion as a technology of power and subjectivity within organizations. Using a genealogical method, we trace the history of concern with compassion in organizations as a mode of employee discipline. The article applies a perspective developed from Foucault, focused on power/knowledge relations and the role that they play in the formation of the subject in organizations. Organizational compassion has been constantly re-defined and re-evaluated according to changing organizational objectives for shaping employee subjectivity. While one may think of compassion as a “good” phenomenon, we counsel caution against doing so in all contexts as a generic endorsement of a “positive” agenda. As we show, compassion may be a mode of power.
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ISSN:1056-4926
1552-6542
DOI:10.1177/1056492614521895