Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
further complicates the organization of 'courses of work'. These courses
are organized by default, i.e. based on what positions are compatible with
the medical incapacities.
This example illustrates some typical mismatches between the mana-
gerial and individual temporalities. One can clearly see here that stages
of change are critical times where the combination of these temporali-
ties is played out, over and over again. The results of this process set the
foundations for courses of work that are yet to come. When they are not
overcome, mismatches between temporalities lead to declines in health
that obliterate the course of development. They emphasize the importance
of the processes of decline, and may even accelerate them.
The temporalities of collectives
play the part of an interface
Work collectives are the bearers of a history, rules and values of the trade,
which are transmitted from generation to generation - and more broadly
from elder to younger workers. In that sense, these collectives have a nor-
mative power, which regulates work toward immediate action, but also in
terms of the course of work within the collective. Therefore, their position
is that of an interface or 'double address' (Clot, 2009): they may resist in the
face of managerial time frames, whose views are dissonant with the val-
ues and rules supported by the collective; they are also positioned toward
the individual time frames that make them up, and may play the part
of resources or constraints with respect to these individual time frames.
From the point of view of age (Cau-Bareille, 2012), they might thus define
the rules for integrating new workers in the processes of reception and
learning, and transform these rules based on the diversity of individual
time frames that compose them. Several works in ergonomics research
(Marquié et al., 1998) thus suggest that in collectives composed of workers
of various ages, bartering may occur to exchange arduous work condi-
tions with experience of the trade. Thus, the collective time frames occupy
a position that was deserted by managerial time frames, when these time
frames adopted a view of ageing as an increase in 'time lived through'.
As regards this role of double address, managerial temporalities and
individual temporalities put the normative power of collective temporali-
ties to the test, with respect to their ability for resistance and transforma-
tion. Caroly (2012), when carrying out a research project on the emergence
of occupational incapacities of post office workers, showed how work col-
lectives may pass or fail this test. Collective work is a key element in a work
collective that supports the individuals that form it. We will continue here
to view the problem through the lens of the relationship between age and
work to examine in greater detail the various roles played by collective
temporalities in their position as an interface.
