Justice in the Workplace

Overcoming Ethical Dilemmas

Matthieu de Nanteuil, Professor of Sociology, Louvain School of Management and Institute for the Analysis of Change in Historical and Contemporary Societies (IACCHOS), University of Louvain, Belgium

This timely book explores new social justice challenges in the workplace. Adopting a long-term perspective, it focuses on value conflicts, or ethical dilemmas, in contemporary organisations and ways to overcome them. Matthieu de Nanteuil demonstrates that the existence of value conflicts is not in itself problematic, but problems arise as actors do not have a frame of justice that allows them to overcome these conflicts without renouncing their deeply held values.

‘Justice in the Workplace is an innovative and substantial book. Matthieu de Nanteuil argues that work settings are cultural experiences built on hidden value conflicts. Inspired by Spinoza, the author convincingly searches for an ethic of work based on the idea of a plurality of conflicting values. He guides the reader in a Grand Tour via Smith, Marx, Fraser, Boltanski, Sen, Nussbaum and Dejours to argue that conflicts at work are essential and can be overcome by using contextualized frames of justice. Neither capitalism nor ethical work dilemmas are one-dimensional, as the author illustrates by applying his approach to platform capitalism, agroecological transition and consultancy. This is compulsory reading for and beyond organisational sociologists. This book speaks to everyone interested in social justice and how to reach it and also to those who prefer to avoid the issue.’
– Trudie Knijn, Utrecht University, the Netherlands

‘This important book not only highlights the problems of justice in the workplace, it reframes the terms used to analyse justice in an original way. Thanks to a fruitful cross-fertilization between political philosophy and sociology of work, it proposes a rigorous framing of ethical issues applied to today's rapidly changing professional worlds. Backed by particularly inspiring case studies, Matthieu de Nanteuil's book is a major theoretical breakthrough that those interested in work, whether academics or not, cannot ignore.’
– Michel Lallement, Conservatoire national des arts et métiers, France

‘A fascinating journey bringing philosophy to the workplace! This invigorating book suggests diverse approaches to justice in relation to ethical dilemmas at work. After having explored the theoretical foundations of value conflicts in modern organizations, it provides various case studies illuminating the relevance of ethical questions in the contemporary economy and sketches out resolutely new perspectives on social justice. It should serve as a key reference for all analysts and practitioners involved in the management field.’
– François Pichault, University of Liège, Belgium