At Liberty to Court? Autonomy in the Development Sector

A view of the self as autonomous, independent and sovereign is becoming more common, in social life and in organization theory (Harre, 1989; Foucault, 1991b; Rose, 1999). The in-depth empirical study of one work organization, presented here, illustrates the day-to-day enactment of this worldview in the workplace. Interestingly, while non-profit NGOs operating in the development sector might typically be regarded as being founded on a concern for the other, the account here illustrates that in contrast, a worldview inscribed by notions of independence and sovereignty prevailed. Autonomy is described as at once powerful, hidden and constructed; in this organization, notions of standing apart from, and remaining untainted by, particular vested interests in the development sphere contributed to the persistence of these interests. In this explication of the hegemony of autonomy in one workplace setting, contributions are made to current discussions regarding the efficacy of this discourse (Rose, 1999, Foucault, 1991b; Gergen, 1989). Drawing on these observations, the implications for Butler’s vision of a future politics of identification, a future in which incoherence, unknowingness and openness to the other takes primacy, are discussed (Butler, 2004; Taylor and Hansen).