Struggling with Emotions in Times of Social Change: Control Restoring Operations in the Workplace and the Family
Struggling with Emotions in Times of Social Change: Control Restoring Operations in the Workplace and the Family

Summary/Abstract: Modernization discourses which penetrated into Poland after the systemic transitions of 1989 broughtmeanings that were in opposition to those embedded in the traditional models of interpersonal relations. Althoughthe emergence of new meanings pertaining to asymmetrical social relations is typical for societies undergoingstructural and cultural transformation, in the case of Poland these shifts have advanced rapidly, especially incomparison with the Western societies. This resulted in the fragmentation of the doxa—the set of taken-forgrantedassumptions about the ‘natural’ shape of interpersonal relations. Due to this ‘responsible actors’ whosesocial roles have been so far based on authority have been affected by a loss of the sense of control over their basicsocial relations, i.e. the relations through which they define their identity and/or appoint life goals.Using qualitative evidence from Poland we analyze interpersonal relations in two domains of social life, i.e.work and family, in order to identify interactional operations through which the ‘responsible actors’ (managersand parents) attempt to regain control over interaction partners. Comparison across two different fields of sociallife offers an in-depth insight into the general dynamics of control restoring operations, and the key role of emotionmanagement in this process.

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