RR5: Gregg

Melissa Gregg’s chapter, “On Friday Night Drinks: Workplace Affects in the Age of the Cubicle” details the complicated dynamics of workplace relationships, and how they have evolved over time. The chapter specifically uses the TV show Six Feet Under, as an example. Gregg says that social theory seems to suggest the workplace is beginning to adapt to more creative employees, but Claire’s scenario in Six Feet Under seems to show the opposite. In general, it seems that the workplace is becoming increasingly less secure, and employers aren’t looking for the same sets of skills-based traits anymore. They’re more likely to look for people with flexibility, and they may give on the job training. One of the main themes of this chapter is isolation in the workplace, and how the workplace environment shapes and is shaped by communication. Gregg thinks that online platforms are increasingly becoming an escape for office alienation. Historically, mastery of language has been seen as a way of ensuring status, and language is a tool for production. Gregg says that this explains the rise of email in the office setting, because it levels out the power dynamic between participants. Forms of writing, specifically the email, can provide an outlet for workers to avoid personal confrontation. This chapter talked about a lot of different things relating to workplace dynamics, so it’s difficult for me to summarize it. Overall, I would say that the chapter calls for the need to have honest communication and to fight isolation in the workplace. Gregg seemed to talk about social media in a positive light, particularly how platforms can help people escape isolation. But aren’t they further increasing isolation by providing a way for colleagues to avoid interpersonal confrontations? Can social media interactions really be as fulfilling as personal ones? Or is the office just not the place to have meaningful interactions? I wonder what Gregg would propose as potential solutions for office isolation, and where she predicts this trend will go in the next few decades, as technology continues to expand. Also, would workplace relationships be more positive if jobs had less precarity? Perhaps increased stability would lead to less competition, and less strain on relationships as a result.