The book is a study of how meetings, documentation and other administrative practices occupy a large part of people's working lives, and how it can be seen as both a burden and an attraction. The study sheds light on the widespread perception and experience that administrative work is increasing in human-related professions, for example in social services, health care, schools and universities.
Some studies of today's so-called “administration society” have emphasized how we are today governed and influenced by ideas about New Public Management, the effects of which have been described as an increased administrative burden. "Our ethnographically based studies rather highlight the everyday social interaction around administrative work," says Erika Andersson Cederholm. Using the sociological concept Eigendynamik the book illustrates the self-generating nature of administrative work, and shows how meetings and paperwork can also be appealing.
The book is Open Access och available for downloading here
Find out more about Erika Andersson Cederholm's research