Negotiating self through changing work.

Abstract

This chapter examines the role of individuals' sense of self in mediating the impact of work transformations brought about by economic and social globalisation. It proposes that through work and working life, individuals' sense of work self is shaped through negotiation between social and personal imperatives. Therefore, understanding the impact of globalisation on work requires going beyond accounts of social theorising and 'objective' accounts of changes and their impacts to account for workers' subjective experiences. Using case studies of transformations in five individuals' work lives it is shown that the changes are not necessarily disempowering and dehumanising, but can also serve workers' personal and work life goals. Central to negotiating these transformations is the exercise of individual agency and intentionality that is directed towards individuals maintaining and remaking their selves through their work life.