Abstract
The purpose of this article is to analyze the problem of non-professional creativity in contemporary self-help literature. Creativity, an element of work organization in the post-Fordist era, has been the subject of many critical analyses. I focus on creativity as it appears in everyday life, with the support of an examination of self-help handbooks that refer to far-east traditions, at the same time being critical of the Western lifestyle. Self-help literature is viewed here as a tool aiding the neoliberal governmentality of society. I am most of all interested in how contemporary discourse on non-professional creativity promotes technologies of autonomy aimed at the production of responsible and self-sufficient individuals. I argue that creativity is today a key mechanism of governance. It is not limited to the professional sphere but is playing an increasing role in our private lives. It is used to produce more elusive and flexible forms of self-governance than more openly repressive forms of power (based on top-down order and control).
Highlights
In recent decades, creativity as an element of work organization in our post-Fordist age has been the subject of many critical analyses
I argue that the non-Western traditions presented in self-help guides offer the vision of a subject that coincides with the mechanisms of neoliberal governmentality
These handbooks advocate creative activity as an alternative to contemporary problems. Their authors, do not question the legitimacy of the general assumptions of neoliberal capitalism. They are only interested in combating threats to individual autonomy
Summary
Creativity as an element of work organization in our post-Fordist age has been the subject of many critical analyses. Other authors have pointed out that the concept of creativity is far from being a normatively neutral term It is promoted within the educational system as a desirable trait, a necessary competency of the entrepreneurial and innovative individual (Kalin, 2016). Creative activity is not limited to the professional sphere, and extends to one’s private life (as a domain of “autotelic creativity”) They have argued that management science is interested in the sphere of free time as a place for developing the creative abilities that are required at work (Yoon et al, 2019). In the last part of the article, I analyze a few self-help handbooks in order to demonstrate how non-professional creativity may be converted into technology of autonomy and a subtle mechanism of disciplining
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