More Than Prefigurative Politics? Redefining institutional frames to reduce precarity under neoliberal capitalism

• Published in: Organization studies Vol. 44; no. 6; pp. 939 - 960
• Main Authors: De Coster, Marjan, Zanoni, Patrizia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.06.2023; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Butler, Judith; Capitalism; Grass roots movement; Neoliberalism; Organization studies; Politics; Public spaces; prefiguration; grassroots organizations; Judith Butler; contentious politics; neoliberal subject; precarity
• ISSN: 0170-8406; 1741-3044
• DOI: 10.1177/01708406221113110

This paper responds to the emergent calls for recovering the role of contentious politics in prefigurative communities to more effectively transform capitalist institutions. Theoretically drawing on the work of Judith Butler, our paper points to the importance of addressing the institutional frames that demarcate who will be (mis)recognized in the public space and which are at the core of politics. Our analysis of the Coop case shows how prefigurative and contentious politics are not incompatible, but can rather strengthen each other in a virtuous circle. When articulated to redefine existing institutional frames, they can reduce precarity. Through this articulation an assembly is constituted where a redefined subject can emerge outside the precarizing frames of neoliberalism. At the same time, our analysis suggests that Coop’s political practices do not completely redefine the individualized, calculative neoliberal subject. Project workers embraced the assembly only to the extent that it helped them reduce their self-responsibility and advance their professional and life projects. Overall, these insights advance the literature on grassroots organizations by showing the importance of contentious politics in attempting to redefine the institutional frames, as opposed to solely relying on prefigurative politics outside institutions. Yet they simultaneously confirm the difficulty of redefining the precarious neoliberal subject through collective emancipatory projects.