High-performance connections: Digital holism and communicative capitalism at HappyAppy
研究新纪元组织如何利用数字文化推广个人与社会福祉的“整体论”愿景，通过对法国科技初创协会HappyAppy的案例考察，揭示整体论在沟通资本主义下的两种形态及其批判潜力。
The current study examines the ways in which new age organizations use digital culture to promote “holistic” visions of personal and social well-being. Concepts of holism are common in contemporary and new age management settings, but are largely undertheorized by organizational scholars; moreover, the relations between holism and techno-culture, increasingly recognized by digital sociologists, are largely missing from organizational scholarship. Using the lens of “communicative capitalism,” we carry out a case study of “HappyAppy,” a French techno-startup association concerned with well-being related applications, to understand how holistic ideas are deployed and shaped within this association. We find that that holism is marked, on the one hand, by “autarkic” fantasies, involving subjective integration and immersion, and on the other, by “relational” fantasies, involving interpersonal connection and participation. Moreover, each of these versions of holism is associated with distinct critical possibilities. We use these results to theorize the role of digital holism at the intersection of new age management and digital culture, outlining an agenda for future research.