Global Journal of Human Social Science, C: Sociology and Culture, Volume 23 Issue 2

long term projects and institutions. Culture is thus no longer about maintaining current social practices and values but rather conceived as an uncompromising demand for constant change (Lipovetsky & Charles, 2005). It is a consumer culture presenting the world as a warehouse of consumer goods that vie for the rapidly shifting attention of customers, trying to grab attention for more than an instant (Bauman, 2000). Contrary to the theorists of postmodernity, this fashion world is understood as the fulfilment of the modern promise of individualisation, personal choice and freedom. Change being both a necessity and a virtue is also a major theme of the new managerial discourse of the 1980’s. Citing both the uncertainties of the contemporary world and the economic setbacks of the previous decade, it focused on the need to radically transform organisations in order to succeed. Increasing the speed of production and technological innovation in response to the perpetual changes in consumer demands is perceived as essential to survival. At the same time, change was also extolled as a virtue, and willingness to change and adopt new managerial and organisational forms and practices was praised as the mark of leading and visionary organisations. Learning to embrace change is seen as the way to improve the performance and efficiency of workers, optimise operations and provide a competitive market edge (Clarke & Newman, 1997). On the one hand, the constant introduction of new technologies and products is vital for the creation of a short lived competitive window in which to sell products for higher prices than the costs of production before the competition catches up (Rosa, 2013). On the other, catering for evermore diversifying tastes and lifestyles is also the highest form of excellence in a society that had personalised values and made every choice ephemeral. Furthermore, when rapid change is required for survival in the present rather than progress to a better future, then careful management rather than research, learning or exploration becomes the quintessential pursuit. Managerial proficiency in increasing performance and coordinating change becomes a social sine qua non . This fixes management as the epitome of rationality as well as merit in anything from personal life to the global economy. Management theories and policies, while presented as an unavoidable response to change, are also major causes of acceleration both ideologically and practically. The new managerial discourse itself was instrumental in promoting the view that the global economy and terms of employment are rapidly changing. The view spread from management gurus to the media, government think tanks and eventually to government policy, all based on scant empirical evidence (Doogan, 2009). 2 The clearest demonstration of management as a driving force of change and flexibility in second modernity is project management. Projectification started gaining momentum in the early 1980’along with other phenomena associated with the rise of second modernity. It was first described by Midler (1995) as a restructuring of organisations around projects as the central unit of activity. Estimates are that between 30%-40% of work and about 25% of total value added (and a far higher proportion of non financial value) in OECD countries is currently generated by projects (Lundin et. al., 2015). Projects are executed in a sequence of short term tasks in flexible corporations which quickly respond to changes. They are therefore hailed as a perfect vehicle for organising activities in situations of instrinsic instability and rapidly changing global environments, technologies and consumer demands (Jensen et. al., 2016). At the same time, projects have been a major engine of accelerated change. A significant part of projects involves organisational change programmes, such as IT change initiatives, performance improvements, strategy deployment and research (Lundin et. al., 2015). Projectification encourages permanent cost reduction, maximal speed of execution, fast and flexible industrial investments and opportunistic utilisation of often unforeseen circumstances (Ibid.). To balance the uncertainty involved in being inherently The ever changing and customised product lines are the result of the managerial drive for constant innovation and redesigning. The myriad management theorists, gurus and consultants themselves comprise a huge industry whose very raison d'être is their ability to generate change and transform organisations. Facing widespread dissatisfaction with the first wave of reorganisation because of declining morale, erosion of trust and poor team cooperation, management theory responded by claiming that organisational transformation is a continual if not perpetual process and not a onetime improvement (Jackson, 2001). Therefore, in second modernity, the firm belief in organisational restructuring is evident throughout corporate life as part of an overall process of social acceleration. All major corporations are incessantly occupied with reinventing their corporate culture, markets and products. Management has all but become synonymous with transformation of organisationsrather that with oversight and control. 2 I believe there is enough evidence to counter Doogan’s rather denialist view that the flexible and quickly moving global economy and job market are merely ideological justifications of neoliberal government policies.However, the discourse of the new economy was probably as much a driving force for its realisation as a merereflection of it (in perfect tune with postmodernist theory). © 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue II Version I 78 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 C Epochal Change and Second Modernity as a Sociocultural Manifestation of Managerialism short term lifestyles, motivated by the uncertainty of