Papers by Carlos Fernández
Debats. Revista de cultura, poder i societat, 2019
Un dels espais geogràfics en què el corrent dels Critical Management Studies (CMS) ha tingut un i... more Un dels espais geogràfics en què el corrent dels Critical Management Studies (CMS) ha tingut un impacte més significatiu ha estat, sens dubte, l'Amèrica Llatina, on s'han començat a consolidar escoles acadèmiques a diversos països al voltant de les escoles de negocis i les facultats d'empresarials que rebutgen la influència nord-americana (considerada mainstream, positivista i tecnocràtica) en els programes d'estudi de gestió i administració d'empreses. Un dels casos més cridaners és el colombià, on s'està consolidant una mena d'espai acadèmic bastant interessant que mira de desenvolupar una anàlisi crítica de les organitzacions en un context polític i social ple de desafiaments. Les anàlisis que qüestionen les tècniques gerencials contemporànies -l'objectiu de les quals seria el control i l'explotació de treballadors, ciutadania i recursos naturals, fet que conduiria a un gran patiment personal, organitzacional
Book Review: Paul du Gay Organizing Identity: Persons and Organizations ‘After Theory’ Sage, London, 2007, £23.99 pbk (ISBN 9781412900119), ix + 189 pp
Cultural Sociology, 2010
the encroachment into the marketplace of values, beliefs and world-views that enhance a profound ... more the encroachment into the marketplace of values, beliefs and world-views that enhance a profound transformation of the relations of power in the marketplace, production patterns, distribution configurations and consumption practices. Such a tour de force has to pay its dues. Most notably the readability sometimes has to yield in the face of immensely packed sentences, just like arguments at times run the risk of being submerged in references. Although Sassatelli analyses the legacy of classical and contemporary economic discourse on the image of the modern consumer, she appears to underestimate the persistent power of the economist’s discourse in shaping the conception of market forces then and now in the social sciences and in politics. However, the author needs to be applauded for taking on the vast challenge of presenting the enormous width and the manifold implications of consumption on the wider social structure and culture of modern societies. In modern markets, people talk, not money.
Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 2013
El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar las razones de las diferencias existentes entre España y ... more El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar las razones de las diferencias existentes entre España y Argentina en materia de productividad científica en ciencias sociales. La metodología de investigación utilizada es el análisis comparativo de casos, focalizado en la organización de la docencia universitaria en ambos países. Puede concluirse que la mayor productividad de España se debe a la institucionalización de la necesidad de publicar artículos en revista con referato como condición central para la permanencia en cargos de docencia universitaria, así como para progresar en la carrera académica. En contraste, el caso argentino evidencia otro panorama, en el cual la dedicación exclusiva a la docencia universitaria es una rareza, más que la norma en ciencias sociales, siendo además pocos los docentes que poseen formación doctoral.
Revista de Administração de Empresas, 2015
Since the eighties, programs in business management have become very popular in postcompulsory ed... more Since the eighties, programs in business management have become very popular in postcompulsory education, for various reasons. Students feel attracted to them since jobs in management positions have become more socially desirable and generally better paid than their counterparts in the public sector -which are also under a constant threat of restructuring. Successful managers and entrepreneurs have become role models and media tycoons, and outspoken advocates of the advantages of free market and competition. Moreover, the mysticism that pervades current organizational values -empowerment, compromise, high-level performance, accountability, flexibility and so on -has gained an extraordinary influence in economically advanced societies, helping to develop stronger pro-market attitudes and general concern for good management in different fields, from politics to economic or social policies. Therefore, the term management has become ubiquitous and a key issue in modern societies, to the extent that according to Boltanski and Chiapello (2005) it represents the core of the new spirit of capitalism. Institutions such as business schools, consultancies, the financial press and other players have helped to forge and disseminate the concepts of what we understand by management today, helping to frame a specific learning environment and a specific idea of management . However, there have been also concerns about the type of management knowledge available in such institutions, the so-called mainstream management thinking (as opposed to critical approaches, which question capitalism and its context and social order: see Alvesson & Willmott, 1992;, hegemonic but raising increasing criticism from different angles and perspectives. Some scholars have particularly highlighted its strong Anglo-Saxon bias which has been linked to a conservative political project engaged with Americanization and neoliberal capitalism . Nevertheless, management knowledge cannot be reduced only to US-influenced theories and practices. Scholars such as Richard have highlighted that there are remarkable differ-RAE-Revista de Administração de Empresas | FGV-EAESP
The transformation
Enter Culture, Exit Arts?
Beyond culture
Enter Culture, Exit Arts?, 2018
Revista Española de Sociología, 2020
La sección monográfica que se presenta aquí tiene como tema de análisis la sociedad de consumo y,... more La sección monográfica que se presenta aquí tiene como tema de análisis la sociedad de consumo y, en concreto, la diversidad existente en los procesos históricos de construcción de dicha sociedad de consumo. El consumo es uno de los fenómenos sociales más relevantes en nuestra época, pues el acceso cada vez mayor de la población a la posibilidad de consumir representa uno de los elementos definitorios de la sociedad contemporánea: a lo largo de las últimas décadas, cada vez mayores capas de la población mundial han tenido un acceso creciente al consumo, lo que constata no solamente un indudable aumento del nivel de vida sino cambios de enorme calado en términos de estilos de vida (Alonso, 2004; Warde, 2017).
Debats. Revista de cultura, poder i societat, 2019
Presentation of the monograph. Managerialismand its influence on the contemporary world: analysis... more Presentation of the monograph. Managerialismand its influence on the contemporary world: analysis and reflections
Revista Española de Sociología, 2020
Trabajo sin límites, salud insostenible: la intensificación del trabajo del conocimiento
Communication Studies, 2020
In this study we identify, for the first time, social determinants of opposition to artificial in... more In this study we identify, for the first time, social determinants of opposition to artificial intelligence, based on the assessment of its benefits and risks. Using a national survey in Spain (n= 5,200) and linear regression models, we show that common explanations regarding opposition to artificial intelligence, such as competition and relative vulnerability theories, are not confirmed or have limited explanatory power. Stronger effects are shown by social values and general attitudes to science. Those expressing egalitarian values and privacy concerns, as well as those less predisposed to innovation in a general sense, are more prone to oppose both technological applications. Lastly, we found evidence that, as in other complex technological applications, a new cognitive shortcut is produced. In this case, we found a strong correlation (0.652, p <0.001) between public attitudes towards robotization in the workplace and towards artificial intelligence. We discuss the implications of this new cognitive schema, the "intelligent machine", as a new threatening or beneficial element.
Lan Harremanak - Revista de Relaciones Laborales, 2019
Las ideologías gerenciales son una de las manifestaciones más características de nuestra época. E... more Las ideologías gerenciales son una de las manifestaciones más características de nuestra época. En un contexto neoliberal donde la globalización de los mercados, las nuevas tecnologías y la creciente intensificación de la competencia son vistos como importantes desafíos empresariales, la necesidad de mejorar los procesos de gestión e implicar cada vez más tanto a directivos como a empleados en la buena marcha de las empresas se ha convertido en la piedra angular del discurso empresarial contemporáneo. Esto exige nuevas políticas empresariales que se están difundiendo por todas partes, incluyendo por supuesto a Euskadi. En este territorio, la “Nueva Cultura de Empresa” impulsada por la patronal guipuzcoana ADEGI se está instalando en muchas empresas. En este artículo, el objetivo será el de analizar el discurso asociado a esta nueva cultura gerencial y sus implicaciones en el terreno de la representación de los trabajadores y la configuración del sistema de relaciones laborales.
Debats. Revista de cultura, poder i societat, 2019
Commercialization
Enter Culture, Exit Arts?, 2018
International Journal of Consumer Studies, 2017
The aim of this paper is to explore social discourses in Spain on the economic crisis under the s... more The aim of this paper is to explore social discourses in Spain on the economic crisis under the scenario of austerity policies and cutbacks. Our goal is to explore whether social perceptions have changed throughout the crisis that evolved from the collapse of the housing market bubble to a public deficit and debt problem, leading to record rates of unemployment and a dramatic decline in living standards. The long crisis has left an imprint on Spanish society and it is worthwhile exploring how Spanish citizens reflect upon the crisis. To do so, eighteen focus groups were organized in two rounds (2010 and 2014) and the results of those group conversations are discussed and compared here. Our analysis shows that the participants elaborated not only on reflections about the crisis and on how it has lowered their consumption levels, but on their further views about the social structure and change. The notorious pessimism of Spaniards about their future, regardless of their class position, is highlighted in the results. A more critical narrative about the crisis seemed to emerge in 2014, leaving behind the guilt-laden 'living beyond our means' discourses that dominated in 2010.
Young Workers and Unions in Spain
Young Workers and Trade Unions
Arbor, 2011
In previous times discourses on social innovation were built on the development of collective pro... more In previous times discourses on social innovation were built on the development of collective projects, but nowadays they are organized around a new symbolic imaginary in which notions such as personal change (permeated by psychological explanations and a fascination about the emotional) have become the key variable explaining the social. In this sense, the current hegemonic management discourses truly represent this trend as they build success in job careers around the mastery of certain behaviour skills. In this paper, our aim is to critically analyse the prescriptions that these new and powerful managerial discourses while discussing possible alternatives from views such as Critical Management Studies.
Arbor, 2011
In previous times discourses on social innovation were built on the development of collective pro... more In previous times discourses on social innovation were built on the development of collective projects, but nowadays they are organized around a new symbolic imaginary in which notions such as personal change (permeated by psychological explanations and a fascination about the emotional) have become the key variable explaining the social. In this sense, the current hegemonic management discourses truly represent this trend as they build success in job careers around the mastery of certain behaviour skills. In this paper, our aim is to critically analyse the prescriptions that these new and powerful managerial discourses while discussing possible alternatives from views such as Critical Management Studies.
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Papers by Carlos Fernández