Governmentality, Biopolitical Control, and a Value Pluralist Perspective of Wellness Programs: Creating Utopian Employees

Abstract

The craze for wellness programs and the healthism paradigm have led to a need to better understand their complexity and the desired result: the creation of utopian employees. This understanding can benefit from a theoretical discussion of governmentality and biopower that combines the perspectives of employer and employee in the framework of value pluralism. The employer perspective hinges on value monism, which prescribes that healthcare costs must be controlled. Employees would like to be healthy, but may be conflicted by organizational pressures. These pressures are highlighted by the discussion of value pluralism, which includes hierarchical obedience, productivity, fairness, privacy, and economics. The article differentiates utopian and nonutopian employees and discusses the workplace dystopias that can result from the adoption and implementation of wellness programs.