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Books by Roland Paulsen

Routledge, 2025

“Paulsen’s book is a fascinating and penetrating analysis of our late-modern anxieties when we ar... more “Paulsen’s book is a fascinating and penetrating analysis of our late-modern anxieties when we are confronted with the basic uncontrollability of the world – and a passionate plea for regaining a robust trust in life that does not depend on control and domination.”

Hartmut Rosa, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany

The explosion of published outputs, at least in social science, creates a noisy, cluttered environment which makes meaningful research difficult, as different voices compete to capture the limelight even briefly. Older, more significant contributions are easily neglected, as the premium is to write and publish, not read and learn. The result is a widespread cynicism among academics on the value of academic research, sometimes including their own. Publishing comes to be seen as a game of hits and misses, devoid of intrinsic meaning and value, and of no wider social uses whatsoever. Academics do research in order to get published, not to say something socially meaningful. This is what we view as the rise of nonsense in academic research, which represents a serious social problem. It undermines the very point of social science.

This problem is far from 'academic'. It affects many areas of social and political life entailing extensive waste of resources and inflated student fees as well as costs to tax-payers. Part two of the book offers a range of proposals aimed at restoring meaning at the heart of social research and drawing social science back address the major problems and issues that face our societies.

While most people work ever-longer hours, international statistics suggest that the average time ... more While most people work ever-longer hours, international statistics suggest that the average time spent on non-work activities per employee is around two hours a day. How is this possible, and what are the reasons behind employees withdrawing from work? In this thought-provoking book, Roland Paulsen examines organizational misbehavior, specifically the phenomenon of 'empty labor', defined as the time during which employees engage in private activities during the working day. This study explores a variety of explanations, from under-employment to workplace resistance. Building on a rich selection of interview material and extensive empirical research, it uses both qualitative and quantitative data to present a concrete analysis of the different ways empty labor unfolds in the modern workplace. This book offers new perspectives on subjectivity, rationality and work simulation and will be of particular interest to academic researchers and graduate students in organizational sociology, organization studies, and human resource management.

I arbetssamhället arbetar man inte för att producera något i första hand. I arbetssamhället är arbetet ett självändamål. Som en följd av denna arbetsideologi töms arbetet på innehåll och mening.

Arbetssamhället är en bok ämnad att uppmuntra till kritisk reflektion kring arbetets historiska betydelse för samhälle och ekonomi. Den ger en utmärkt introduktion till arbetskritisk litteratur och vänder sig både till den breda allmänheten och till studenter inom sociologi, ekonomisk historia, samhällsvetenskap och andra discipliner där människan och arbetet står i fokus.

Reviewed scholarly articles by Roland Paulsen

Drawing on ethnographical work at the Swedish Public Employment Service, this article contextuali... more Drawing on ethnographical work at the Swedish Public Employment Service, this article contextualizes functional stupidity in relation to other types of organizational compliance. Rather than seeing stupidity as a personality trait, I argue that it should be regarded as a transient unreflective mode of compliance one may yield to for a number of reasons but also reflect on in hindsight. Based on the empirical material, I distinguish 10 'stupidity rationales' emanating from reflective types of compliance with which employees can motivate the practice of functional stupidity. Functional stupidity can be seen as the modus operandi of ego-dystonic compliance we enter in order to endure long hours of imposed work assignments we would rather not perform.

Based on 43 interviews conducted with employees who spend around half of their working-hours on n... more Based on 43 interviews conducted with employees who spend around half of their working-hours on non-work related activities such as 'cyberloafing', a typology of empty labour is suggested according to sense of work obligation and potential output in order to set the phenomenon of workplace time-appropriation into a theoretical context in which wasteful aspects of organization and management are taken into account. Soldiering, which emanates from a weak sense of work obligation in the individual, may entail aspects of resistance, but there are also less voluntary forms of empty labour deriving from a lack of relevant work tasks. All types of empty labour are, however, bound up with the simulation of productivity. Therefore, they ironically serve to maintain the capitalist firm's reputation for efficiency.

Within Critical Management Theory as well as Critical Theory the possibility of individuals resis... more Within Critical Management Theory as well as Critical Theory the possibility of individuals resisting taken for granted power asymmetries remains a highly debated subject. Intensified corporate culture programs seem to imply that within the sphere of labor, worker dissent is loosing ground. Based on a large interview material of critical cases, this notion is challenged. The interviewees mainly represent white-collar employees who spend more than half of their working hours on private activities. Studying the objectives and political ambitions behind their extensive recalcitrance reveals a range of intentional structures that result in the same activity: time appropriation. First, time appropriation may be the effect of framed dissent; a dissent intertwined with politically framed indignation. Second, the recalcitrance may spring from direct dissent in which personal indignation is the driving force whereas political formulation s are not as prominent. Third, the activity of not doing your work while at work can be the effect of withdrawal in which case there is no motive other than avoiding work. Fourth, time appropriation may also be a (sometimes involuntary) consequence of adjustment: This occurs when the employee does not receive enough work assignments to fill the working day. I conclude by suggesting that the processes and leaps between these layers of dissent should be further studied. Paulsen • 54 OUTLINES -CRITICAL PRACTICE STUDIES • No. 1 • 2011

Arbetsmarknad & Arbetsliv, årg 16, nr 1, våren 2010 11 Vagt påminnande om den tayloristiska tidss... more Arbetsmarknad & Arbetsliv, årg 16, nr 1, våren 2010 11 Vagt påminnande om den tayloristiska tidsstudiemannens verksamhet har en ny typ av studier börjat sprida högst intrikat statistik över mängden "tidsspill" bland kontorsanställda. Trots den överväldigande massan av arbetssociologisk forskning som visar hur globaliseringens konkurrensvillkor lett till en generell intensifiering av arbetslivet med ökad spridning av utmattningssyndrom, visar flera rapporter hur den genomsnittlige kontorsarbetaren spenderar mellan 1,5 till 3 timmar per arbetsdag åt icke-arbetsrelaterade aktiviteter (Blanchard & Henle . Genom att mäta användartrafiken mellan olika webbplatser har man även lyckats uppmäta att 70 procent av den amerikanska trafiken som passerar pornografiska sajter gör så under arbetstid och att 60 procent av all internetshopping även den äger rum mellan nio och fem på vardagar Mills et al 2001:3). Den här typen av surfande på internet tycks inte vara begränsad till USA utan är minst lika vanlig i länder som Singapore och Tyskland (Lim & Teo 2005, Rothlin & Werder 2007).

The practice of bodily differentiation: Overweight and internet dating on the market of intimacy ... more The practice of bodily differentiation: Overweight and internet dating on the market of intimacy With the emergence of Internet dating, the procedure for choosing a partner has been ra dically changed . Given the initial invisibility of the body when Internet dating, one might presume that looks become less important when searching for partners online . Unfortuna tely, this is far from the truth . Based on twelve interviews with Internet daters of which six define themselves as overweight, the reproduction of bodily distinction in both mediated and direct communication is here being studied . A recurrent theme among the interviewees is the disappointment of the first date face to face . Ironically the importance of looks (or bodily capital) appears to be even more vital when dating on Internet than when building relationships "in real life" . Besides the disappointment of the first date in real life, the obese women in this study could also gather information of their value on the market of intimacy through being met by serious harassments and in exclusively being treated as sexual objects . Despite its strong association with the physical body, bodily capital can sometimes be dif ficult to distinguish from other forms of capital . From this point of view, the possibility of less repressive forms of intimacy is discussed .

Basic Income Studies, 2008

The lottery question asks whether you would stop working, continue working in the same job or con... more The lottery question asks whether you would stop working, continue working in the same job or continue working in a different job if you won a sum of money large enough to allow you to live on it comfortably for the rest of your life without working. This literature review reports the results of 22 surveys carried out between 1955 and 2005 where this issue was raised in connection with basic income, and devotes specific attention to how the results have hitherto been analyzed. Used as a measure of employability, other dimensions of the lottery question, such as occupational discontent and satisfaction beyond economic necessity, have been largely overshadowed despite their prominence in the statistical material. The prevalence of non-financial employment commitment (NEC) has also been overestimated because of an analytical dichotomy between those who would continue working and those who would stop working completely if finances permitted. Suggestions for further studies include a clear distinction between nonfinancial commitment to current employment and to employment as such.

Reviewed contributions to scholarly books by Roland Paulsen

Papers by Roland Paulsen

This book argues that we are currently witnessing not merely a decline in the quality of social s... more This book argues that we are currently witnessing not merely a decline in the quality of social science research, but the proliferation of meaningless research, of no value to society, and modest value to its authors - apart from securing employment and promotion. The explosion of published outputs, at least in social science, creates a noisy, cluttered environment which makes meaningful research difficult, as different voices compete to capture the limelight even briefly. Older, more significant contributions are easily neglected, as the premium is to write and publish, not read and learn. The result is a widespread cynicism among academics on the value of academic research, sometimes including their own. Publishing comes to be seen as a game of hits and misses, devoid of intrinsic meaning and value, and of no wider social uses whatsoever. Academics do research in order to get published, not to say something socially meaningful. This is what we view as the rise of nonsense in acade...

Outlines. Critical Practice Studies, 2011

Since the creation of the Marxian alienation theory, the development of the productive labour and... more Since the creation of the Marxian alienation theory, the development of the productive labour and new philosophical insights has made this theory obsolete. In this paper, a concept of alienation, free from essentialism and historicism, will be proposed. This alienation theory starts from the most fundamental source of knowledge to the human existence: our sensuous experience of the material world. The existentialist notion of alienation focuses on the free intention and defines alienation as the distortion of this intention when the individual praxis are put into a system that makes the consequences of the individual praxis alien to the agent. I argue that work within the frames of modern capitalism by this definition is alienating. This alienation is reinforced by the immaterial, indirect character of the work in an economy where human knowledge becomes the principal force of production and where the physical-sensory faculties of the human being consequently are rendered superfluou...

Sociologisk Forskning, 2009

Routledge, 2025

Hartmut Rosa, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany

Basic Income Studies, 2008

Outlines. Critical Practice Studies, 2011

Sociologisk Forskning, 2009

Behovet av arbete har tack vare den teknologiska utvecklingen aldrig varit mindre än idag. Ändå a... more Behovet av arbete har tack vare den teknologiska utvecklingen aldrig varit mindre än idag. Ändå arbetar vi mer än vad man gjort under större delen av den mänskliga historien. I arbetssamhället arbetar man inte för att producera något i första hand. I arbetssamhället är arbetet ett självändamål. Som en följd av denna arbetsideologi töms arbetet på innehåll och mening. Arbetssamhället är en bok ämnad att uppmuntra till kritisk reflektion kring arbetets historiska betydelse för samhälle och ekonomi. Den ger en utmärkt introduktion till arbetskritisk litteratur och vänder sig både till den breda allmänheten och till studenter inom sociologi, ekonomisk historia, samhällsvetenskap och andra discipliner där människan och arbetet står i fokus.

Organizing Hope

There is no alternative! Margaret Thatcher once proclaimed in order to defend neoliberalist refor... more There is no alternative! Margaret Thatcher once proclaimed in order to defend neoliberalist reforms and – implicitly – the capitalist regime. But if one doesn’t agree with Thatcher’s definition of the situation and her (and her many followers’) subsequent analysis, what viable options does one really have? Is it possible to come up with an empirically grounded alternative to the dominant modes of production and consumption – an alternative that does not entail climate crisis, economic inequalities and democratic deficits? The starting point of this chapter is that we, in the shadow of the apocalypse, witness the return of the utopias. From Ruth Levitas via Fredric Jameson to Erik Olin Wright, an array of different understandings and notions of the future are envisioned. At the same time, however, a troublesome paradox reveals itself: the more the utopias are turned into realpolitik, the more they are inverted under the influence of bleak TINA rhetoric – and/or by their unintended consequences. This paradox is a recurring theme within science fiction, for example in Ursula Le Guin’s novel The Dispossessed about the frustrating life on the anarchic planet Anarres. Focus is here put on upon the dark sides of the covert power structures on the planet, and Le Guin’s narrative, it is argued, proffers important insights for all those who engage in political debates on utopian alternatives: the very notion of a permanent ‘good society’ is both dangerous and unrealistic. Those who honestly want to argue for an alternative must be able to convince their opponents that all its costs, problems and unintended consequences are preferable to the existing state. The utopian endeavour is therefore something other than a project of opposition. It is a challenging quest, an appeal to hope, weighted by an impossible burden of proof. Perhaps this quest is the only thing we can with certainty attribute to a ‘good society’. (Less)

Work, Employment & Society, 2010

DOI: 10.1177/09500170100240021502 2010 24: 395 Work Employment Society Roland Paulsen 97801995471... more DOI: 10.1177/09500170100240021502 2010 24: 395 Work Employment Society Roland Paulsen 9780199547159), 224 pp ... New Forms of Informal Control Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, Book Review: Peter Fleming Authenticity and the Cultural Politics of Work:

This study’s aim was to operationalise and test a model of functional stupidity, a form of unrefl... more This study’s aim was to operationalise and test a model of functional stupidity, a form of unreflective compliance, and explore its appropriateness for understanding how social workers comply with and motivate performing morally or professionally problematic tasks. A sample of 120 social workers from six municipalities in Sweden self-completed a questionnaire containing 20 Likert-type items denoting 10 ‘stupidity rationales’ within three reflective modes of compliance, and a measure of work satisfaction. Most functional stupidity items performed well, with social workers endorsing several rationales for being unreflective at work. Associations among items supported most elements of the model. Both being older and having more work experience were associated with endorsing the fun rationale, while being older was also associated with endorsing rationales within the despair mode. Endorsing cynical mode rationales was associated with lower work satisfaction, while endorsing the fun rati...

Oxford Scholarship Online

This book argues that we are currently witnessing not merely a decline in the quality of social s... more This book argues that we are currently witnessing not merely a decline in the quality of social science research, but a proliferation of meaningless research of no value to society and modest value to its authors—apart from securing employment and promotion. The explosion of published outputs, at least in social science, creates a noisy, cluttered environment which makes meaningful research difficult, as different voices compete to capture the limelight even briefly. Older, but more impressive contributions are easily neglected as the premium is to write and publish, not read and learn. The result is a widespread cynicism among academics on the value of academic research, sometimes including their own. Publishing comes to be seen as a game of hits and misses, devoid of intrinsic meaning and value and of no wider social uses whatsoever. This is what the book views as the rise of nonsense in academic research, which represents a serious social problem. It undermines the very point of ...

Idleness and Workplace Resistance, 2000

Phavisminda Journal, Nov 12, 2013

Based on 43 interviews conducted with employees who, with a few exceptions, spend at least half o... more Based on 43 interviews conducted with employees who, with a few exceptions, spend at least half of their working-hours on non-work-related activities such as "cyberloafing", a typology of "empty labor" (also known as "time waste") is suggested according to employee commitment and work intensity in order to set the phenomenon of soldiering and its oppositional importance into a new theoretical context. Marked off from other forms of empty labor, soldiering, emanating from the individual lack of commitment, can be said to entail grains of resistance. All types of empty labor are, however, associated with advanced methods of simulating productivity. Therefore, they ironically serve to maintain capitalism's self image of efficiency.

Outlines Critical Practice Studies, Aug 11, 2011

Idleness and Workplace Resistance, 2014

Environmental Sociology

Modern-day work is a central reason for unsustainability, and its transformation is therefore key... more Modern-day work is a central reason for unsustainability, and its transformation is therefore key for sustainability. A recurring manifestation of this issue is the 'jobs-environment-dilemma', a trade-off arising due to severe ecological impacts caused by work on the one hand, and the structural constitution of modern industrial society as work-centred and work-dependent on the other. We draw on interdisciplinary literature from environmental sociology and related fields to analyse both aspects: distinct factors of ecological problems associated with modern work, and various dimensions of structural dependence on work in modern society. We find that this conflict, and the fundamental role that work plays for unsustainability, are not sufficiently addressed and remain unresolved issues in sustainability research. To change this, we propose the conceptual approach of 'postwork' or critiques of work to open up a new perspective on the work-environment problem. We introduce postwork theory and discuss different ways in which ecological postwork perspectives and arguments can contribute to understanding and resolving entrenched sustainability issues. Finally, we briefly illustrate existing postwork politics and practices. While clearly contested, there is renewed momentum for social change towards a sustainable society which would benefit from addressing work and critiques of work.