Time-Space Patterns in Work and Organizing: Setting the Scene, Taking Stock and Moving Forward

Titolo Rivista STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI
Autori/Curatori Sonia Bertolini, Anna Carreri, Dawn Lyon, Lia Tirabeni
Anno di pubblicazione 2025 Fascicolo 2025/2
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 24 P. 7-30 Dimensione file 194 KB
DOI 10.3280/SO2025-002001
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Anteprima articolo

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In the face of an increasing variety of spatio-temporal patterns of work and organisations, we seek to draw attention to time and space in this issue. In our introduction, we argue that they have become constitutive of the ongoing transformations of work in its entanglements with social reproduction, and of the evolving nature of organisations themselves – practices, structures, and organisational cultures. After presenting the framework underpinning this special issue and providing an overview of the contributions it comprises – five articles, three invited contributions from leading international scholars and two book reviews – we propose our own analysis of four interrelated tensions that run through the contributions to the special issue. These tensions concern the autonomy–control dialectic, the ambivalent role of technologies, subjectivities and the reconfiguration of agency, and the work–life tensions that unfold across spatio-temporal arrangements. We highlight how each tension simultaneously shapes and is shaped by contemporary spatio-temporal patterns of work and organisation. Finally, we outline possible avenues for future research that may foster novel theoretical and methodological frameworks capable of better grasping the ongoing metamorphoses of work, organisation, space, and temporality, along with the key tensions that underpin them.

Di fronte a una crescente varietà degli schemi spazio-temporali del lavoro e dell’organizzazione, con questo numero monografico intendiamo richiamare l’attenzione sul ruolo del tempo e dello spazio. Nella nostra introduzione, sosteniamo che il tempo e lo spazio sono divenuti costitutivi delle trasformazioni in atto del lavoro, nei suoi intrecci con la riproduzione sociale, nonché dell’evoluzione stessa della natura delle organizzazioni – delle pratiche, strutture e culture organizzative. Dopo aver presentato il quadro teorico che informa questo numero monografico e offerto una panoramica dei contributi in esso contenuti – cinque articoli, tre contributi su invito da parte di affermati studiosi internazionali e due recensioni di libri – proponiamo un’analisi di quattro tensioni interrelate che attraversano l'intero numero. Tali tensioni riguardano la dialettica tra autonomia e controllo, il ruolo ambivalente delle tecnologie, le soggettività e la riconfigurazione dell’agency, nonché le tensioni tra vita e lavoro che si sviluppano nei nuovi assetti spazio-temporali. L'articolo mette in evidenza come ciascuna di queste tensioni contribuisca a dare forma agli, e al contempo sia modellata dagli, schemi spazio-temporali contemporanei del lavoro e dell’organizzazione. Infine, delineiamo possibili direzioni per future ricerche, capaci di promuovere nuovi quadri teorici e metodologici in grado di cogliere più efficacemente le metamorfosi in corso del lavoro, delle organizzazioni, dello spazio e della temporalità, insieme alle tensioni fondamentali che le attraversano.

Parole chiave:controllo; nuove modalità di lavoro; soggettività; tecnologia; schemi spazio-temporali; vita-lavoro

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Sonia Bertolini, Anna Carreri, Dawn Lyon, Lia Tirabeni, Time-Space Patterns in Work and Organizing: Setting the Scene, Taking Stock and Moving Forward in "STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI " 2/2025, pp 7-30, DOI: 10.3280/SO2025-002001