Keywords

Discourse Analysis, Critical Work Studies, Neoliberalism, Governmentality, Labor Precarity, Foucault

Abstract

This study explores the Great Resignation—a mass wave of voluntary job departures during and after the COVID-19 pandemic— through a Foucauldian lens, exploring the intersections of neoliberal labor practices, worker subjectivities, and discursive power. Using Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FDA) 25 interviews with individuals who resigned during this period were analyzed to explore how workers engage with neoliberal discourses in making sense of their work-related attitudes, experiences, and decisions as well as the broader discursive constructions used to interpret the Great Resignation as a societal phenomenon. Participants’ narratives reveal varying degrees of alignment, negotiation, and resistance to neoliberal subjectivity, shaped by discourses of responsibilization, individualization, entrepreneurialism while also reflecting moments of critique and resistance. Beyond personal experiences, participants’ discussions revealed five discursive constructions of the Great Resignation —'The Lazy Worker,' 'Leveraging Opportunity,' 'Decentering Work,' 'Navigating Precarity,' and 'Empowered Workers'—reflecting a contested discursive site and exposing the interplay between neoliberal rationalities and workers’ attempts to navigate, critique, and reimagine the labor market. These findings situate the Great Resignation as a site of both discursive rupture and continuity, highlighting the complex interplay of governance and agency, where the neoliberal framework is simultaneously resisted, reproduced, and reimagined. This research advances sociological understandings of neoliberal power, discourse, and subjectivity, illustrating how governmentality shapes individual experiences and subjectivities and broader perceptions of labor, as the Great Resignation marks a contested reconfiguration of work, power, and identity under neoliberal capitalism.

Completion Date

2024

Semester

Fall

Committee Chair

Amy Donley

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Sociology

Format

PDF

Identifier

DP0029025

Language

English

Release Date

12-15-2024

Access Status

Dissertation

Accessibility Status

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