“Professional” life involves resigned participation in class theatre. As far as I can see, most people don’t question their work, their jobs, what it all means to them. There must be some reason why so little change in the public sector gives rise to such minimal reflection. There is a silent context, a hidden reason for all this. I believe that to be class theatre. We do not question the purpose of our organisational and professional lives because to do so would show up the charade of class theatre. Without occupations, there is no middle class. This class can only survive through its members occupying certain positions in perpetuity. The middle classes are defined by their location in the world of work. They are not the owners, but rather the managers. It is far more important to assert one’s right, as a member of the middle class, to ‘own’ a job within the managerial hierarchy, than it is to question whether the jobs, collectively, are achieving the objectives to which the rhetoric refers. Managerial positions are literally about the survival of class identity, and status. This imperative is much stronger than any other reason for the job. Through the content of managerial positions in both the public and private sectors, through the interrelationships, the ways of working, members of the middle class declare their claim to be and to continue to be in the middle class. The spin says its all about outcomes, but its not really. Its about how dedicated you are to propping up the system.
