Derision and Management

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of the concept of derision as developed by the French Lacanian psychoanalyst Denis Vasse, as a way of understanding why people exposed to—and profoundly affected by—violence through recurrent forms of managerial language, can suffer, become silent and find it difficult to voice their resistance and anger. The structure of derision identified in such a context is twofold: first the false promise that one will be treated as a subject, i.e. a person which otherness, subjective voice and desire are acknowledged (openness), and, second, the disappointment of this expectation with the suffering realization of being treated as an object, a resource or a number (closure). Derision provides a new critical understanding of a whole range of managerial and organizational control mechanisms such as appraisal, job interviews, quality certifications, benchmarking, etc.