Finding oneself: Subjection, differentiation and lack in the emotionally autonomous subjects of strategic change (original) (raw)
This research is focused on exploring subjectivity through the lens of how employees as subjects strive to be emotionally autonomous, with the backdrop of strategic change. Emotional autonomy relates to a sense of selfhood, a perception of self that is independent of the demands of all others. An exploration of this concept thus goes beyond the formation of the subject to the transitions that she undergoes thereafter in carving a niche for herself. Based on the data gathered from interviews conducted in two financial organisations, the study draws on Lacan’s notion of the Symbolic, Other and desire in order to offer a psychoanalytical perspective to emotional autonomy. It contends that the subject pursues and attains emotional autonomy in so far as perceiving a distinctive sense of selfhood. This perception however is transient and is continually pursued within the grips of the forces that form the subject. In responding to the convention’s call for psychoanalytic studies of organizations and work, this empirical study pushes the boundaries of research on subjectivity, by taking a Lacanian view in the exploration of how subjects transition into forming a distinct sense of selfhood. With the backdrop of strategic change, this study explores how the subjectivity of the employees in two financial organisations is re-articulated.