Decaf Resistance: On Misbehavior, Cynicism, and Desire in Liberal Workplaces
Abstract
The author reconnects resistance in production to its radical roots. Current literature suggests that resistance in the liberal workplaces of late capitalism has gone underground, becoming mostly evident in unofficial, offstage practices such as cynicism, parody, and humor. The author argues this resistance is too often a decaf resistance. This is a resistance without the cost of radically changing the economy of enjoyment, which ties us to our master. The author argues that resistance, as a real act, which suspends and changes the constellation of power relations, has a cost that cannot be accounted for in advance. To understand this cost, we need an ethics, which the author calls, following Lacan, the Ethics of the Real.
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Such thirst for new digital technologies is a manifestation of the new spirit of capitalism, which keeps such a-political desires going.
“Yet, such thirst for new digital technologies is a manifestation of the new spirit of capitalism, which keeps such a-political desires going (Contu, 2008: 373-374).”
From The illusion of the digital commons: 'False consciousness' in online alternative economies (2017) · cites this paper as Contu, 2008: 373-374
The alleged resistance of the contemporary cynic in production, consumption, management, or communing is 'decaf resistance': a fake resistance to capitalist power structures that is enjoyed, typically as an outlet for a cynic's resentment, without affecting the dominating neoliberal hegemony.
“The alleged resistance of the contemporary cynic in production, consumption, management, or communing-such as online protests targeting large firms (Van den Broek, 2016)-is what Contu (2008) calls 'decaf resistance': it is a fake resistance to capitalist power structures that is enjoyed, typically as an outlet for a cynic's resentment, without affecting the dominating neoliberal hegemony.”
From The illusion of the digital commons: 'False consciousness' in online alternative economies (2017) · cites this paper as Contu, 2008
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Organizations and their consumers: Bridging work and consumption
Gabriel, Y., Korczynski, M., & Rieder, K. (2015) · Organization · doi:10.1177/1350508415586040 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
The illusion of the digital commons: 'False consciousness' in online alternative economies
Ossewaarde, M., & Reijers, W. (2017) · Organization · doi:10.1177/1350508417713217 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Critical positions: Situating critical perspectives in work and Organizational Psychology
Islam, G., & Sanderson, Z. (2022) · Organizational Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/20413866211038044 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Bloom, P., & Śliwa, M. (2022) · Human Relations · doi:10.1177/0018726721996763 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
- Authors
- Contu, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Warwick (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Contu, Alessia
- Venue
- Management Communication Quarterly
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2008-02
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 364-379
- ISSN
- 0893-3189 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-6798
- OpenAlex
- W1994431605
- Cited by
- 335
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 13.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Management Communication Quarterly (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Foucault, Power, and Ethics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
- Keywords
- workplace resistance, late capitalism, power relations, ethics of the real, Jacques Lacan, cynicism, humor, parody, radical change, fitness cost of resistance
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