"Gregg . . . places the genre [of self-help] in a rich social and historical context."

- Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed

"<i>Counterproductive</i> trains its lens on the productivity self-help genre itself, posing the question 'How does this insatiable industry for productivity continue trading on essentially unchanging insights?' Gregg . . . sees the glut of such books as a symptom of deeper problems with the organization of modern work. . . . Best for: Self-help burnouts."

- Caitlin Harrington, Wired

"Reading [<i>Counterproductive</i>] caused me to have the biggest writing-related epiphany I’ve ever had."

- Theresa MacPhail, Chronicle of Higher Education

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"Gregg has written a book that will change the way people look at the notion of time management. . . . Essential. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers, faculty, and professionals."

- M. J. Safferstone, Choice

"Gregg’s analysis provides productive insights in the ways that productivity has framed the work narrative, at times in less than beneficial ways. This book is appropriate for the general public, sociologists, business professionals, freelance workers, and librarians, concerned with the understanding the unhealthy impact that the focus on time management and productivity may have on the workplace and their own lives."

- Clem Guthro, Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy

"A smart, fascinating analysis of the theory, practice, and anthropotechnics within the knowledge economy, a business sector whose productivity can be defined by its intellectual capital as opposed to its production."

- Julia Scatliff O'Grady, Journal of Cultural Economy

“<i>Counterproductive</i> is a must-read for everyone interested in the sociology of work, especially for those investigating the development of digital tools and their impact on workers’ lives.”

- Anna Maria Ozimek, Information, Communication, & Society

As online distractions increasingly colonize our time, why has productivity become such a vital demonstration of personal and professional competence? When corporate profits are soaring but worker salaries remain stagnant, how does technology exacerbate the demand for ever greater productivity? In Counterproductive Melissa Gregg explores how productivity emerged as a way of thinking about job performance at the turn of the last century and why it remains prominent in the different work worlds of today. Examining historical and archival material alongside popular self-help genres—from housekeeping manuals to bootstrapping business gurus, and the growing interest in productivity and mindfulness software—Gregg shows how a focus on productivity isolates workers from one another and erases their collective efforts to define work limits. Questioning our faith in productivity as the ultimate measure of success, Gregg's novel analysis conveys the futility, pointlessness, and danger of seeking time management as a salve for the always-on workplace.
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Melissa Gregg explores the obsession with using productivity as the primary measure of most workers' sense of value and success in the workplace, showing how it isolates workers from each other while erasing their collective efforts to define work limits.
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Preface  ix
I. Theory
Introduction: The Productivity Imperative  3
1. A Brief History of Time Management  22
II. Practice
2. Executive Athleticism: Time Management and the Quest for Organization  53
3. The Aesthetics of Activity: Productivity and the Order of Things  78
III. Anthropotechnics
4. Mindful Labor  103
Conclusion: From Careers to Atmospheres  127
Postscript: A Belated Processing  141
Acknowledgments  143
Notes  147
Bibliography  179
Index  191
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“Revealing the relationship between productivity techniques, on the one hand, and the isolation experienced by modern workers on the other, Melissa Gregg helps us better understand the neoliberal workplace. A timely, innovative, and compelling work, Counterproductive will be met with great enthusiasm by a broadly interdisciplinary group of readers in sociology, political theory, cultural studies, women's and gender studies, and critical management studies.”
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781478000907
Publisert
2018-11-23
Utgiver
Vendor
Duke University Press
Vekt
318 gr
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Forfatter

Biographical note

Melissa Gregg is Principal Engineer and Research Director, Client Computing Group, Intel; coeditor of The Affect Theory Reader, also published by Duke University Press; and author of Work's Intimacy.