The imaginary between aggression and creative cooperation: The case of local councils and home care associations

Abstract

The imaginary, in Castoriadis’ sense, can foster or impede meaningful cooperation within an institution. These dynamics have been studied by the existing literature at the scale of society as a whole and at the scale of small work groups. This article shows how secondary social institutions that mediate between society and work groups influence imaginaries in this context. A local council working with an imaginary according to which “everything is quantifiable,” fixed and imposed from outside, provokes aggression from the management of home help organizations. A local council that promotes a dynamic in which the imaginary and rules are developed collectively invites the healthy regulation of affective commitment among employees in the field. The management of the partner organizations seizes on this dynamic through shared work objectives, and individuality finds its place in working collectives.