Regimes of Harmonization

In my research I study processes of configuration of labor and laborers in contemporary systems of capitalist production (Boltanksi & Chiapello 2005). I analyze phenomena of financialization
(Muniesa et. al. 2017) focusing on the role of knowledge, systems of thought and cognate objects in processes of subjectivation. In my PhD research project, ‘Regimes of Harmonization’, I study
how members of a workforce of a multi-national fin-tech company are conceived and addressed as productive assets and integrated accordingly in corporate concepts and processes:
Individuals are subjectivated as emotional assets to foster a collective identity among members of the workforce and to construct a normative community. With the help of models, mechanisms
and processes grounded in rational principles emotions are enclosed as a dimension of capitalist production. I assess how emotions are conceived, defined, captured, evoked, produced and managed in the contemporary workplace and how they are enclosed as a dimension of capitalist production using models and mechanisms grounded in rational principles. Arguing that employees are incorporated as assets of production of sentiment (Illouz 2007) I analyze how members of the management and specialized experts recognize members of the workforce as producers of emotional labor. I focus on the digital infrastructure and disciplinary techniques (Foucault 1978-1979, 2004) they deploy to enclose members of the workforce in systems fostering normative behavior and practices. Proclaiming a need for ‘cultural alignment’ of employees members of the management with the support of specialized experts assess the ‘culture’ of the organization with a methodology they refer to as ‘measuring culture’.
Quantitative techniques, algorithms and three-dimensional data models are used to document and visualize individual sentiment dynamically and instantly representing what is referred to by one member of the management as representing ‘who we are’ in order ‘to ensure that everyone knows what is preferred in here and what isn’t’. In my PhD project ‘Regimes of Harmonization’ I show how contemporary capitalist systems are designed to enclose employees with respect to their manual, intellectual and emotional capacities with models, structures and processes used to manage production and productivity. Further, I demonstrate how practices in which persons as a whole are accounted for dissolve the boundaries between rational and emotional paradigms expanding the reach of  capitalism.