Les employés : excursion sociologique dans le monde de la gestion des ressources humaines
As a form of the contemporary process of rationalization, human resources management developed itself as a paradigm to organize social relations not only within the business industry, but also outside. This master thesis is based on the work of Siegfried Kracauer “The Salaried Masses” (1998 [1931]) that reveals the effects of the rationalized modern business industry on the mentality of the employees in the 1920’s. I propose to investigate the tension that the human resources management employees bear as they are, nowadays, both its carriers and objects. This tension, that binds the particular function of these employees within the business industry and their own condition as employees, forms the object of this master thesis. It is through the construction of relations toward the tension in an idealtypical form — specific to the Weberian approach – that this master thesis proposes to understand the employees’ condition in human resources management. By interpreting the relations toward the tension underpinned in this professional field with the four idealtypes constructed for this purpose (the accountant sergeant, the sport sergeant, she who takes upon herself and the synthetic), I bring to light the dilemmas that are likely to be experienced by these employees; dilemmas inherent to their condition in the rationalized world.
Siegfried Kracauer Max Weber employees human resources management professional practice idealtype