Office space: governmentality, the corporate campus, and subject position

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Last Modified
  • March 20, 2019
Creator
  • Szczur, Samantha Leah
    • College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Communication
Abstract
  • This dissertation is a study of one corporate campus environment and the potential impact it has on employee subject position. I use Foucault's concept of governmentality as an analytical framework and examine how the corporate campus exercises mechanisms of control. I focus on DanTech, a highly regarded software company with a reputed corporate campus headquarters. The research examines what type of material and ideological environment is constructed among DanTech's campus. Additionally, I address how campus and its affiliated services impact employee understandings of the organization, their jobs, and themselves. Finally, I analyze the integration of work and life and problematize modernist tendencies to dichotomize these life-realms. I draw upon interviews with 14 current employees and six former employees, campus observations, and academic literature to expound upon my research questions and attempt to situate the popularity of corporate campuses. I address both overt and subtle measures of control and employee navigations and renegotiations of power. DanTech's corporate campus provides vehicles for power and control but also opportunities for employees to manage their lives. Overall, employees on DanTech's campus value the amenities offered to them. The material and ideological facets of campus shape employee lives and perceptions but also provide a means for them to navigate their own subjectivities.
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  • In Copyright
Note
  • "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Communication Studies."
Advisor
  • May, Steve
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Place of publication
  • Chapel Hill, NC
Access right
  • Open access
Date uploaded
  • March 18, 2013

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