Competing Against Oneself and Others? Competition as Gendered Technologies of the Self

Melissa Carr; Elisabeth Kelan

doi:10.1111/gwao.13154

Competing Against Oneself and Others? Competition as Gendered Technologies of the Self

Melissa Carr, Elisabeth Kelan

Public Services Management & Org

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Abstract

This paper contributes to debates on gender and competition by drawing on a Foucauldian understanding of neoliberalism to explore how competition operates as gendered technologies of the self. Our findings are based on interviews and observations with women who work in a bank and a network marketing company. We unfold different modalities of competition that are in operation: competition has either an outward focus where women compete with other women or an inward focus where women compete with oneself. The study expands the theoretical understanding of gender and competition by exploring how different modalities of competition operate as gendered technologies of the self under neoliberalism. We conclude that while different modalities exist, they fulfill the same purpose in that they individualise women while making structural inequalities invisible.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	351-368
Number of pages	18
Journal	Gender, Work and Organization
Volume	32
Issue number	1
Early online date	1 Jun 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.13154
Publication status	Published - Jan 2025

Keywords

banking
competition
gender
neoliberalism
network marketing
technologies of the self

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1111/gwao.13154

Competing against oneself_CARR_Publishedonline1June2024_GOLD_VoR (CC BY)Final published version, 417 KBLicence: CC BY

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Competing Against Oneself and Others? Competition as Gendered Technologies of the Self

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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