Talking to ... Peter Fleming

It is difficult to ignore how Capitalism has slipped into a deep
values crisis – and indeed, you might be forgiven for thinking we
are in a Potemkin village, a zombie economy sustained only by
memories of a glorious past or by cash injections from central
banks. For this reason alone, our conversation with Peter Fleming
was extremely valuable, as he, with his keen sense of fundamental
upheavals, recognized the signs of the times early on.
Observations like how work has become little more than a
mythological narrative for reassuring ourselves of our sense of
importance and self-worth, or that universities have turned into
dark zones in our era of Human Capital—sometimes jokingly called
Whackademia—and that in this morally decayed environment, it is
almost impossible to cling to the specter of the homo economicus
as the ideal of utility-maximizing rationality. In this sense,
it’s only logical that Peter Fleming's dirge ends with a
reflection on Capitalism and Nothingness. And while this may be a
somewhat somber topic, we found our conversation with him to be
very enjoyable and entertaining.


Peter Fleming is a Professor of Organization Studies at the
University of Technology, Sydney. During his time in London,
where he taught Business and Society at City University, he
chaired the London Living Wage Symposium at the House of Commons.
His work has been recognized with several awards.


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