By Zuza Seixas*
When the workplace becomes a part of an autonomous sphere, it determines in people’s lives, the way they behave, as a being, separate from the larger body of a “we.” A series of myths appear, with terrors and hopes, on this blank sheet of paper, which with which we are all unfamiliar.
“Progress” and “winning at life” often translates into having a good position in the corporate world, and having money to act out theatrical scenes. The life of people is thus determined by the formal demands of the work world. The rules the market dictates are rarely questioned, and everyone is forced to “play the game.”
However, I do mean to make clear that the market is not a monster, an autonomous being, living separate from us, which dictates our rules and esthetic conduct. As strange as it may seem, the market is us. We create it. It’s our way of living. This must be clear so that we can build new relationships-relationships that are healthier and more productive.
Why this introduction? So that we can realize that so many times we are complicit in determining factors, which carry with them, the illusion of being untouchable. Nevertheless, we are always in our own hands, with the condition of being able to transform. This is extremely vivid in our relationships in the workplace, where generations are forced to coexist, and work together, frequently crashing into each other, sometimes event auto-mutilating themselves.
From the individual that is looking for a job, to the one who’s employed, to the one who is the employer, the unnecessary tension present in these relationships are the fruits of a rigid market-which we have the power to transform.
As young people, we are born into a world which is different from the world older people have lived-and often still insist on living. It hasn’t just been the rise of a global economy, the boom in social networks, information, or the technological advances that have become global. No, it’s a whole new way of living, of thinking, of facing one’s self. It’s a new way of dressing, of speaking, of cutting one’s hair. At this point, nothing shocks us anymore. We don’t try to contest a world that has already died anymore; we were given the rights, by the body of our society, and have tasted the possibility of extravagance. But this is not the tranquil way in which many times this freedom manifests itself, and many misunderstandings result, as barriers are placed between generations.
The difficulty that many people have in understanding attitudes of young people, relates to pure prejudice. Similar to a cultural shock between the western and indigenous worlds, where few could understand the ways of thinking, many distanced themselves in the ways they interacted with the world, lingering in a place of judgment. The old way of thinking won’t resist the force that newness brings, or the devastating force which is transforming and changing societies. We are a mutation of life, constantly in transformation. It’s because we don’t comprehend this, that many barriers appear between generations.
Therefore the possibility of agreeing does exist. It exists in the workplace, where everyday one shows something other than what he apparently is, the something which is capability. We must accept that the new workplace is no longer about appearance, dress, or even conduct. Today work is predominately immaterial, as Negri and Hardt [1] conceive: communication, information is a constant permutation of knowledge.
This immaterial work is that which produces immaterial goods, services, cultural products, knowledge, and communication. This is the path most young people are taking today. Diverging from the traditional model of the workplace, which has its origins rooted in the beginning of the industrial revolution, growing from Toyotism, where the preceding generation cultivated its image “in society.” Immaterial work favors a more creative and open image, and opens itself to productive social interactions.
While we are living a transition in terms of modes of production, generations will continue to speak different languages. As a business opens itself up, it must adopt the rhythmic step of the world, and must incorporate the general changes new generations bring. It must change the way older people navigate gusts of the fresh wind. Where will we end up?
We don’t know, but we certainly need to learn, to live and to coexist, in healthy ways, through body and thought. Relationships open up, within the family, the workplace, and in the collective groups to which we all belong to. In a sense, we too are carried by these gusts of winds, and it’s not intelligent to build, heavy, concrete, walls which cut the wind off, when we can use the force, the strong current of air, to make ourselves more productive and creative.
[1] – Antonio Negri e Michael Hardt,
In the book titled Empire, discuss a meticulous analysis of the current political constitution and the concept of immaterial work to designate the new fields of production and the characteristics of actuality.
*Thiago is the birth name of the author better known as Zuza Seixas, who was born in Brasilia-DF and currently lives in Sao Paulo. Zuza majored in Psychology, and now studies Philosophy in an autodidactic form. He works as a musician, and is serious about using his bike as his mode of transport around Sao Paulo. Zuza cultivates above all, a joyful way of life. Check out his blog at: http://emtransedotransito.blogspot.com
