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On psychology, work and the production of the subject: the case of the Urban Passenger Transport System in Bogota, Columbia

Pulido-Martinez, Hernan Camilo 2008. On psychology, work and the production of the subject: the case of the Urban Passenger Transport System in Bogota, Columbia. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between psychological knowledge, work and the production of subjectivity with regards to the transition that is taking place in the Urban Passenger Transport System in Bogota, Colombia. Specifically, it explores the place and operations of psychology in respect to the production of the drivers as subjects within the transition from the "traditional' to the Transmilenio' service. A multi-site ethnography was conducted in order to map the psychological practices, as well as their connections and distant 'flows', involved in the production of drivers' subjectivity. The observations were conducted in a variety of sites, such as traditional, feeder and trunk companies, recruitment companies and municipal authorities' offices. The psychological practices found were allocated in the sovereignty-disciplinary- governmentality power complex. This thesis argues, firstly, that colonial dimensions are involved when psychology is applied to work places other than the North-Atlantic societies. Secondly, these colonial dimensions are manifest in the ways in which psychology constitutes human subjects at work. Therefore, this study explores the colonial dimension of the relationship that psychology and work have established regarding the constitution of workers as subjects in the 'local' conditions of the Urban Passenger Transport System in Bogota. The results show a) the place and operations of psychology in the processes of constitution of 'desirable' 'free' workers b) the constitution of the traditional driver as the 'other' of the feeder and trunk drivers c) the place of psychology in respect to intensification of the uncertainty in the working conditions and d) the neo-colonial relationships that are involved in the production of workers as subjects in psychological terms. Thus this thesis recognises that the uncertain working conditions of the 'traditional' service are exacerbated in the 'feeder' and 'trunk' services that comprise the new Transmilenio service. The transition from the 'traditional' service to the Transmilenio service has brought about radical changes in the working conditions, a re-organisation of the social relationships and a new place for psychological knowledge.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Status: Unpublished
Schools: Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
ISBN: 9781303212963
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 30 March 2016
Last Modified: 19 Mar 2016 23:30
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/54696

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