WHEN CARE MEETS CAPITALISM: ORGANIZATIONAL WELLBEING IN ROMANIA

Abstract

This paper presents a descriptive qualitative study of organizational wellbeing in Romania, asking: How is the field of workplace wellbeing organized? The analysis focuses on the actors, actions, and tensions that structure this emerging space and considers its broader implications. The theoretical framework draws on Foucault (biopolitics and subjectivation), Thévenot & Boltanski (justification through translation), and Boltanski & Chiapello (The New Spirit of Capitalism), framing wellbeing as a practice of governing subjectivity at the intersection of genuine care and managerial imperatives of efficiency and productivity. Empirical data comes from 12 in-depth interviews with HR professionals, wellbeing specialists, and external service providers. Findings reveal three coexisting worlds of justification: inspired, industrial, and market-based; between which actors translate ideas. Rather than opposing each other, the actors' positions in the process mark different stages in the reform of the spirit of capitalism. Organizational wellbeing thus emerges as a space of tension and collaboration, shaping the “well” employee: high-performing, autonomous, healthy, and engaged. The paper contributes to a critical understanding of organizational wellbeing as both support for employees and a subtle mechanism of control and reproduction of capitalist norms, while mapping its specific Romanian dynamics.