Influence of the Aestheticized Work Environment on Managerial Life in Sri Lanka’s Corporate Sector

Abstract

In this paper, I examine how the lives of managerial workers are being affected by the rapid aestheticization processes that are happening in contemporary work organizations. Using the photo-elicitation technique as the primary data generation and analysis method, fieldwork was conducted in the factory and office spaces of a well-established manufacturing company in Sri Lanka. The study’s findings show that workplace aestheticization affects managerial workers in the organization differently: in the factory environment, where the nature of work is monotonous and stressful, an aestheticized work environment affects managerial life positively. In such a work context, aestheticization becomes a means of ‘seduction’, which draws managers away from the tediousness of factory life. Yet, in the office workspace, experiencing aesthetics or becoming involved in practices that generate aesthetic pleasure creates a sense of ‘shame’ in managerial workers, as such an association is considered as deviating from the ‘appropriate behavior’ expected of a manager. In conclusion, I argue that aestheticization has a dual effect on managerial life—which is imbued not only with managerial workers’ assumptions about the role of a ‘Manager’ but also with the spatial and contextual dimensions at work.