Abstract
The projectified self is suggested in this article as a way to advance emancipatory project studies toward improved understandings of how individuals in contemporary neoliberal societies are urged to become self-controlling, self-improving, self-commercializing, life-compartmentalizing, and deadline driven. We propose (1) a developed theoretical foundation for studies of the projectified self, based on recent writings on enterprising selves, and (2) the notion of prosumption as a concept for how the worthiness of this projectified self is constructed in a simultaneous process of project-based production and consumption. This is discussed in relation to the on-going studies of social media entrepreneurs.
Highlights
Introduction individuals has acknowledged projects as an aspect of identity work
At the same In this article, we develop the concept of the projectified self time, these analyses often tend to relate these condi(originally coined by Kalff, 2017) as a way to study and ana- tions mainly to project-b ased work and project management as lyze how individuals in contemporary neoliberal societies are a general discursive formation
The pro- enterprise culture in which notions of employability, flexibility, jectified self is an expression of the cultural values inherent in project orientation, and individual responsibility are central to the projectified neoliberal society, in which individuals’ worth the ways in which we gain and prove our personal worth is dependent upon their ability to produce and consume them- (Chiapello & Fairclough, 2002; Keat, 1991; Kelly, 2013). selves and others as self-controlling, self-improving, self- Contemporary culture is one that urges us to assume new idencommercializing, life-c ompartmentalizing, and deadline-d riven tities, such as an entrepreneurial employee, manager, entreprehuman beings
Summary
Our suggestion to study the projectified self as a subject position in neoliberal society by which individuals are invited and urged to improve themselves, is based in discussions on societal change and transformation that have been going on in management studies and sociology for almost 30 years. An emergent stream of literatures both inside and outside the realms of project studies has focused on how societal projectification may impact conditions for the individual In their well-recognized discussion on the historical development of cultural and political modes of understanding and justifying reality, Boltanski and Chiapello (2005) claim that a new justificatory regime is emerging in contemporary society—the project-o riented cité.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
