Dire le temps, dire le changement

Abstract

How does one speak today about one’s time of/at work in organizations on the move? Following Schütz, who considers retrospection and projection from the point of view of a chronological temporality, does putting this time into words make it easier to give one’s activity meaning? We will take into account the contributions of narrative theories that emphasize this “chronological temporality” but also those of phenomenological theories that emphasize “affective temporality”. We will analyze some extracts from interviews in which participants in the workplace speak about their time of/at work in a very emotional way with difficulties to project themselves into the future or read their past. Though it is not possible to make a list of the discursive units that refer to an “affective” narrative temporality, we can propose in conclusion a summary of the different aspects found in the extracts. The way of expressing the theme of permanent change that affects the workplace today finally challenges us because it does not appear linked to a specific category of staff but may be seen at numerous levels of responsibility in the organization. In the suspended moment of the research interview, the main theme that emerges is the fact that one feels dominated by a temporality impossible to organize or to control. This theme has very affective overtones. In other words, participants speak about a time which “affects” them phenomenologically, with resignation, anxiety, even suffering.

Keywords

• discourse analysis
• organizational behavior
• organizational change
• contemporary company
• narrative temporality
• affective temporality