Making a healthy change: a historical analysis of workplace wellbeing

Wallace, James ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7330-0114 2022. Making a healthy change: a historical analysis of workplace wellbeing. Management and Organizational History 17 (1-2) , pp. 20-42. 10.1080/17449359.2022.2068152

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (743kB)

Abstract

This paper looks at the precedents of current wellbeing programs, examining three historical modes of workplace wellbeing in order to analyze the way in which employees have become subjects of wellbeing discourse. In doing so, this paper seeks to illustrate the historical trajectory of the management of employee health, exploring both its disjunctures and continuities. It is argued that workplace wellbeing can be characterized in two ways. First, as an intervention into the lives of employees, becoming a means of producing ‘fit for work’ subjects. Second, in terms of the legitimation of this intervention through its discursive positioning as a response to prevalent social concerns. It is noted that, while wellbeing has evolved over time in terms of its rationale and its practices, it has continued to be characterized by these two features.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	1744-9367
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	9 January 2023
Last Modified:	03 May 2023 09:41
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/155409

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item