The Office Now and Then

Join the Centre of Business and Society online or in-person on our Cambridge campus (LAB 222) for a research seminar from Prof Carl Cederström and Prof Torkild Thanem on the past and present of the office.

In this joint presentation, Carl and Torkild will present some of the lessons learned from their current research into the past and present of the office. While Carl has spent much of the last few years in archives and libraries investigating the history of this socio-spatial invention, Torkild has done so doing fieldwork among the hybrid office arrangements of big tech.

During the first half of the session, Carl will take us through the changing structure of the modern workday, from the 1600s to the 1900s. More specifically, he will show how the norm of working 9 to 5, which emerged in the early 20th century, replaced a previous norm of segmented office hours, something which had profound effects on the lives and eating habits of office workers.

During the second half, Torkild will take us back to today’s office, which is marked more by spatial fragmentation than temporal segmentation. With increasing demands on on-site presence, employees may appreciate the opportunity to hang out with colleagues but struggle with space shortage in noisy office environments. And while many find it pointless to make the trip into work only to be stuck in back-to-back meetings online, some are able to keep their spirits up during online meetings through banter and inside joking.

No doubt, the office continues to be a contested space, and we look forward to any input that may help us refine our thinking around its changing ways.

About the speakers

Carl Cederström and Torkild Thanem are professors in Management and Organization Studies at Stockholm University. Carl is the author of many books, including The Wellness Syndrome (with André Spicer), Dead Man Working (with Peter Fleming), and The Happiness Fantasy. Torkild is the author of two books: Embodied Research Methods (with David Knights) and The Monstrous Organization. Later this year, they each have a new book coming out: Carl, a history of the office, and Torkild, an ethnography of fitness activities in the workplace.