Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-5g6vh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T11:00:25.369Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Affective Economy of the Business Case for Mature Aged Workers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Kathleen Riach  and
Gavin Jack
Kathleen Riach
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University E-mail: Kathleen.Riach@monash.edu
Gavin Jack
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University E-mail: Gavin.Jack@monash.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article draws on Ahmed's (2004) concept of affective economies as a means of critically exploring the nature and consequences of the ‘business case for mature aged workers’: a framework that underpins recent government and corporate policy focusing on extending working lives. Contra to the claims of the business case as wholly rationalistic ‘common sense’ and logical, the article argues that the business case operates discursively by drawing on latent but potent circuits of emotionality. Drawing on a range of government ‘best practice’ resources for employers, we show how the ‘rippling effects’ of emotionality result in particular systems of valuation pertaining to mature aged workers and later life working. In situating these dynamics as important to a broader affective political economy, we argue this may inadvertently undermine current initiatives seeking to promote the retention and recruitment of mature aged workers.

Keywords

Affective economiesageingage discriminationbusiness caseemotions at workolder workers
Type
Themed Section on Policy Responses to Ageing and the Extension of Working Lives
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 15 , Issue 4 , October 2016 , pp. 611 - 623
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahmed, S. (2004) ‘Affective economies’, Social Text, 22, 2, 117–39.Google Scholar
Australian Government (2014) Budget Measures: Budget Strategy and Outlook Paper No. 1, 2014–2015, Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Australian Government (2015a) Investing in Experience Toolkit, https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/investing_in_experience_toolkit_150915.pdf [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Australian Government (2015b) Why Mature Age Workers? https://www.experiencepays.gov.au/why-mature-age-workers [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (2014) Power of Oldness, https://www.powerofoldness.com/ [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (2015) ‘Booklet 1: about the National Inquiry and how to tell us what you think’, Willing to Work: National Inquiry into Employment Discrimination against Older Australians and Australians with Disability, Australian Human Rights Commission, https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/WTW_Booklet1_2015_AHRC.pdf [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Degnan, C. (2012) Ageing Selves and Everyday Life in the North of England, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Department of Employment [DofE] (2013a) Experience+ Corporate Champions, Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Department of Employment [DofE] (2013b) Citywide Corporate Champions Case Study, https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/clearedcitywide_case_study.pdf [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Department of Employment [DofE] (2013c) RDNS Corporate Champions Case Study, https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/clearedrdns_case_study.pdf [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Department of Employment [DofE] (2013d) Doric Corporate Champions Case Study, https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/cleareddoric_case_study.pdf [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Department of Employment [DofE] (2013e) Suncorp Corporate Champions Case Study, https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/clearedsuncorp.pdf [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Department of Employment [DofE] (2013f) Bus Queensland Corporate Champions Case Study, https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/queenslandbusesfinalcleared.pdf [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Department of Employment [DofE] (2014a) Restart – Help to Employ Mature Workers, https://www.employment.gov.au/restart-help-employ-mature-workers-0 [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Department of Employment [DofE] (2014b) ISS Corporate Champions Case Study, https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/corporate_champions_iss_final.pdf [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Department of Employment [DofE] (n.d.a) Life Stream Corporate Champions Case Study, https://www.experiencepays.gov.au/success-stories/see-what-life-stream-have-learned-through-profiling-their-workforce [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Department of Employment [DofE] (n.d.b) Caulk N Seal Corporate Champions Case Study, https://www.experiencepays.gov.au/success-stories/caulk-n-seal-invest-life-experience [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Department of Employment [DofE] (n.d.c) Daryl Dickenson Transport Corporate Champions Case Study, https://www.experiencepays.gov.au/success-stories/daryl-dickenson-transport-help-their-workforce-plan-retirement [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (2013a) FMP Group Corporate Champions Case Study, https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/fmpclearedfmpjuly2013.pdf [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (2013b) Ballarat Health Services Corporate Champions Case Study, https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/ballarat_health_services_champions_life-long_learning.pdf [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (2013c) Pitt and Sherry Corporate Champions Case Study, https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/pittandsherry.pdf [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Duncan, C. (2003) ‘Assessing anti-ageism routes to older worker re-engagement’, Work, Employment and Society, 17, 1, 101–20.Google Scholar
Gabriel, Y. (1999) Organizations in Depth: The Psychoanalysis of Organizations, London: Sage.Google Scholar
Groeneveld, S. and Verbeek, S. (2012) ‘Diversity policies in public and private sector organizations: an empirical comparison of incidence and effectiveness’, Review of Public Personnel Administration, 32, 4, 353–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grover, C. and Piggott, L. (2013) ‘Disability and social (in)security: emotions, contradictions of “inclusion” and employment and support allowance’, Social Policy and Society, 12, 3, 369–80.Google Scholar
Holvino, E. and Kamp, A. (2009) ‘Diversity management: are we moving in the right direction? Reflections from both sides of the North Atlantic’, Scandinavian Journal of Management, 25, 4, 395–403.Google Scholar
International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2011) Combating Prejudice and Age Discrimination Against Older Workers, http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/OlderPersons/Submissions/ILO.pdf [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Keith, J. (1977) Old People New Lives, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kelly, E. and Dobbin, F. (1998) ‘How affirmative action became diversity management’, American Behavioral Scientist, 41, 7, 960–84.Google Scholar
Lorbiecki, A. and Jack, G. (2000) ‘Critical turns in the evolution of diversity management’, British Journal of Management, 11, S, S17–S31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loretto, W. and Vickerstaff, S. (2013) ‘The domestic and gendered context for retirement’, Human Relations, 66, 1, 65–86.Google Scholar
Marx, K. (2004 [1867]) Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1, trans. B. Fowkes, London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Oliver, C. (2012) Retirement Migration: Paradoxes of Ageing, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2005) Ageing and Employment Policies, Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
Oswick, C. and Noon, M. (2014) ‘Discourses of diversity, equality and inclusion: trenchant formulations or transient fashions?’, British Journal of Management, 25, 1, 23–39.Google Scholar
Prasad, A. (2006) ‘The jewel in the crown: postcolonial theory and workplace diversity’, in Konrad, A. M., Prasad, P. and Pringle, J. K. (eds.), Handbook of Workplace Diversity, London: Sage, 21–44.Google Scholar
Productivity Commission (2013) An Ageing Australia: Preparing for the Future, Canberra: Commission Research Paper.Google Scholar
Riley, R., Metcalf, H. and Forth, J. (2008) The Business Case for Equal Opportunities: An Econometric Investigation, London: NIESR/DWP.Google Scholar
Ryan, S. (2013) Engaging and Retaining Mature Aged Workers, https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/engaging-and-retaining-mature-aged-workers [accessed 15.01.2015].Google Scholar
Sargent, L. D., Bataille, C. D., Vough, H. C. and Lee, M. D. (2011) ‘Metaphors for retirement: unshackled from schedules’, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79, 2, 315–24.Google Scholar
Sointu, E. (2015) ‘Discourse, affect and affliction’, The Sociological Review, DOI: 10.1111/1467-954X.12334.Google Scholar
Tarlow, S. (2012) ‘The archaeology of emotion and affect’, Annual Review of Anthropology, 41, 169–85.Google Scholar
The Treasury (2015) 4th Intergenerational Report: Australia in 2055, Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Thrift, N. (2004) ‘Intensities of feeling: towards a spatial politics of affect’, Geografiska Annaler, Series B, Human Geography, 86, 1, 57–78.Google Scholar
Web Archive (2016) Archived website pages of Department of Employment [DofE] (2013) Experience+ Make Age and Advantage, https://web.archive.org/web/20131025225809/http://employment.gov.au/experience [accessed 15.01.2016].Google Scholar
Wrench, J. (2007) Diversity Management and Discrimination, Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Zanoni, P. (2010) ‘Diversity in the lean automobile factory: doing class through gender, disability and age’, Organization, 18, 1, 105–27.Google Scholar
Zanoni, P., Janssens, M., Benschop, Y. and Nkomo, S. (2010) ‘Unpacking diversity, grasping inequality: rethinking difference through critical perspectives’, Organization, 17, 1, 9–29.Google Scholar