Affective labor: Real subsumption and the lived experience

This project is concerned with the social ramifications of work under neoliberal capitalism, as articulated not only in theoretical texts, but in film and literary texts as well. It is an investigation into how the logic of capitalism has evolved to the point where it determines and defines normal human behavior. It is grounded in Karl Marx's conception of the real subsumption of labor under capital. The concept of real subsumption considers capitalism's effects on society as a whole. I am particularly concerned with the affective gestures that are performed in the workplace. I argue that in the contemporary work environment all workers are expected to conduct themselves in a manner similar to the affective laborer. In an environment in which precarity and austerity has become the norm, employees are asked to sacrifice their emotional wellbeing in order to oblige their boss. However, such loyalty is rarely reciprocated, as companies cut hours, eliminate benefits, or worse, institute layoffs. Frederic Lordon provides an invaluable theory regarding the employment relation, showing how employees are subtly forced to present themselves to their bosses and coworkers, in a pleasing, passive manner. According to Lordon, the feelings of joy that proliferate in the workplace are often accompanied by stress and worry. My project goes a step beyond Lordon's argument, as I seek to theorize how the affective gestures that proliferate in the workplace influence social relations altogether. In this regard, my dissertation is an extension of Lordon's argument. At the end of my project, I emphasize a reading of literature and film that takes into consideration the affective component of work. When we begin to see work as a practice that transforms and affects the lives of fictional characters, we are forced to confront the way work transforms and affects our own lives as well. In this respect, interpretation acts as a form of resistance, creating the grounds for a type of thinking that goes beyond the boundaries set by capitalism.