Job control in praxis – a developing perspective

Abstract

Through the years, job control is among the themes that has received the greatest attention in the work-related research literature. Whereas many studies have taken the view that employees’ opportunities to exercise control are guided by structures at for example the workplace or individual level, this article argues that our understanding of job control can be developed through the promotion of a practice (praxis) perspective. From this perspective, the goal is to understand how job control is exercised and negotiated with special attention paid to specifi c social mechanisms that shape these processes. The article review extant studies on job control from a praxis perspective, and present an example of how praxis can be approached empirically based on an ethno-methodological conversation analytic approach. One important point is that job control involves processes that comprise a number of thus far overlooked social complexities. This may compromise the employees’ ability to affect their work circumstances unless they are adequately managed.