ABSTRACT
One consequence of a socio-technical approach to organizational design has been the emergence of the concept of semi-autonomous work groups. This chapter suggests that the getting in touch with the nihilism of society is possible through political management from within the individual. The realization of the promise of the value of management of oneself in role, or some variation on it, or a more radical alternative, while it remains always a possibility, always will be constrained. So the starting-point is the individual in his or her roles in relation to the systems in which he or she lives and works. The chapter argues that the here and now of our lives is embedded in mass society. And the implications of this social fact must continually be identified and interpreted. There are, however, no really adequate theories, even fully elaborated descriptions that capture all the facets of mass society.
