No Cover Image

Journal article 437 views 81 downloads

Making a healthy change: a historical analysis of workplace wellbeing

James Wallace

Management and Organizational History, Volume: 17, Issue: 1-2, Pages: 20 - 42

Swansea University Author: James Wallace

  • VoR.pdf

    PDF | Version of Record

    © 2022 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License

    Download (768.99KB)

Check full text

DOI (Published version): 10.1080/17449359.2022.2068152

Abstract

This paper looks at the precedents of current wellbeing programs, examining three historical modes of workplace wellbeing in order to analyze the way in which employees have become subjects of wellbeing discourse. In doing so, this paper seeks to illustrate the historical trajectory of the managemen...

Full description

Published in: Management and Organizational History
ISSN: 1744-9359 1744-9367
Published: Informa UK Limited 2022
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa59937
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Abstract: This paper looks at the precedents of current wellbeing programs, examining three historical modes of workplace wellbeing in order to analyze the way in which employees have become subjects of wellbeing discourse. In doing so, this paper seeks to illustrate the historical trajectory of the management of employee health, exploring both its disjunctures and continuities. It is argued that workplace wellbeing can be characterized in two ways. First, as an intervention into the lives of employees, becoming a means of producing ‘fit for work’ subjects. Second, in terms of the legitimation of this intervention through its discursive positioning as a response to prevalent social concerns. It is noted that, while wellbeing has evolved over time in terms of its rationale and its practices, it has continued to be characterized by these two features.
Keywords: wellbeing; wellness; subjectivity; Foucault; genealogy; paternalism; human relations
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Funders: This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council through a PhD studentship.
Issue: 1-2
Start Page: 20
End Page: 42

Similar Items