The Spirit of Capitalism According to the Michelin Company: Anthropology of an Industrial Myth

242 Pages·2019·2.99 MB·English

by  Corine Védrine

CORINE VÉDRINE
THE SPIRIT OF
CAPITALISM
ACCORDING TO
THE MICHELIN
COMPANY
ANTHROPOLOGY OF
AN INDUSTRIAL MYTH
Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology
Series Editors
Italo Pardo
School of Anthropology and Conservation
University of Kent
Canterbury, Kent, UK
Giuliana B. Prato
School of Anthropology and Conservation
University of Kent
Canterbury, Kent, UK
Half of humanity lives in towns and cities and that proportion is
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Corine Védrine
The Spirit of
Capitalism According
to the Michelin
Company
Anthropology of an Industrial Myth
Corine Védrine
LAURE-EVS Laboratory, Ecole
Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture
de Lyon
Vaulx-en-Velin, France
Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology
ISBN 978-3-319-96609-0 ISBN 978-3-319-96610-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96610-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018950046
Translation from the French language edition: L’esprit du capitalisme selon Michelin by
Corine Védrine, © Publications de l’université de Saint-Etienne 2015. All Rights Reserved.
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019
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A
cknowledgements
A first, longer version of this book was published in France in 2015 by
the Publications de l’Université de Saint-Étienne. I am very grateful to
them for authorising the book to be published in English. I would also
like to thank the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Lyon and
both the EVS (Environnement Ville Société) and the Laure-EVS lab-
oratories for bearing the translation costs. My thanks also go to Karen
Tengbergen-Moyes (Academic Language Services) for her very good
translation. And I am particularly grateful to Giuliana B. Prato and Italo
Pardo who trusted me and kindly encouraged me to publish this work.
At last, many thanks to the anonymous peer reviewers for their reading
and their comments.
v
c
ontents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 The Research Subject: The Construction
of an Industrial Myth to Justify a Company Spirit 3
1.2 The Structure of This Research 10
1.2.1 Defining the Research Subject: Between
Fieldwork, Reading and Writing 10
1.2.2 The Research Context: An Urban Ethnography
“At Home” 11
1.2.3 A “Retrospective Observation” 15
References 19
2 A Myth Built on the Manipulation of Local History
and Memory 21
2.1 A Shared Common History 22
2.1.1 From Rubber to Clermont-Ferrand 23
2.1.2 The Birth of Michelin, the Company
and the Product: Invention and Creations 25
2.1.3 Globalisation and Management of the Michelin
Company 27
2.2 The Impact of the Company on the City
of Clermont-Ferrand: Industrialisation and Paternalism 30
2.2.1 The Industrialisation of the In-Between
City and the Birth of “Michelinville” 30
vii
viii CoNTENTS
2.2.2 The Tenets of and the Social System for Managing
the Michelin Workforce at Clermont-Ferrand 32
2.2.3 Paternalism—Complexity and Controversy 41
References 43
3 The Construction of a Myth 45
3.1 Overview of the Body of Narratives, Structure
and Classification 47
3.1.1 Background and Themes 47
3.1.2 Narrative Structure and Typology 51
3.2 Introduction and Analysis of the Narratives 52
3.2.1 The Founding Narratives 52
3.2.2 The Stories Illustrating the Michelin Spirit 62
References 68
4 Reified Types of Myth and Company Ritual 71
4.1 The Mythical Figures 71
4.1.1 Bibendum 72
4.1.2 François Michelin 72
4.2 The Objects Supporting the Myth and the Company Rituals 76
4.2.1 The Medal and the Totems 76
4.2.2 The Medal Awarding Ceremony 78
References 81
5 The Myth and Its Justifications with the Michelin Spirit:
The Father, the Son and the Healthy Spirit 83
5.1 The Institutionalising Relation of Interdependence.
Rights, Duties and Obligations: The Father Figure 83
5.1.1 The Paternalistic System, the Father or the
Parenting Role 84
5.1.2 The Michelin Surname: Transmitting
the Name of the Father 87
5.1.3 The Kinship System of the Michelin Family 88
5.1.4 Organisation and Family Saga 91
5.2 Secret, Asceticism and Moral 95
5.2.1 The Secret: Hiding, Discretion and Silencing 95
5.2.2 Asceticism: Discipline, Austerity and Thrift 100
CoNTENTS ix
5.2.3 The Moralistic and Religious Spirit:
Moral Entrepreneurs 103
References 108
6 Transmitting the Spirit 111
6.1 The Values Expressed in the Directors’ Discourse
and the Written Company Material 111
6.1.1 A Responsible and Respectful Company 112
6.1.2 Industrial Democracy—The Customer Is King 112
6.1.3 Responsible Capitalism and Liberalism Versus the
Philosophical Liberalism of the French Marxist
Dictatorial Irresponsible State 113
6.2 The Bibs’ School, Religious and Physical Education 115
6.2.1 The Future Bibs’ School Education 115
6.2.2 Religious and Moral Education 120
6.2.3 Michelin’s Grip on Space and the Production
of Michelin Space 125
6.3 The Ambivalence of the Benevolent yet Watchful Gaze 132
6.3.1 What Is Exhibited and What Is Hidden: The
Attentive Eye of the Exemplary
and Grateful Father 133
6.3.2 The Surveillance Gaze: Panoptic, Merit, Sanction,
Reward and Control 137
6.3.3 From the Gaze of Peers to the Gaze of Others:
The Recognition of Identity 140
6.3.4 Note on the Focused and Discriminating Gaze:
The Michelin Guide 145
References 147
7 Between Desacralisation and Feelings of Ambivalence 151
7.1 Resistance from the Michelin Workers—The Voice
of Desacralisation 151
7.1.1 The Growing Social Critique Formulated
by the Bibs 152
7.1.2 The Employees’ Response in the Face of Feelings
of Abandonment and Contempt: Resistance
Through Desacralisation 157
x CoNTENTS
7.1.3 Speaking Out and Becoming Visible to Regain
Recognition in the Public Arena 167
7.2 A Feeling of Ambivalence: The Difficulty of Empowerment 188
7.2.1 The Employees’ Ambiguous Feelings: From Love
to Hate and from Fascination to Repulsion 188
7.2.2 The Demand to Keep a Promise to the
Clermont-Ferrand Population. The 2001
Publication of Dimanche Du Piéton: Go
and See If Michelin Is Still There 190
References 206
8 Conclusion 209
8.1 Back to the Initial Assumptions: Spirit of Capitalism,
Recognition and Citizenship 209
8.2 The Brutal End of a Promise Personified—The Death
of Édouard Michelin 213
8.3 The Local Impact of the Development of Capitalism
and Its Spirit 216
8.3.1 Mobilising Heritage for the Benefit of the New
Michelin Spirit: A New Interplay Between
History, Memory and Myth 216
8.3.2 A New Spirit of Capitalism Hinging
on the Changing Industrial and Social
Michelin Spaces—Reinvesting Through
a New Awareness and a New Meaning 221
8.3.3 From Paternalism Towards the Workers
to Urban Planning with a Marketing Slant
Towards the Executives 222
References 229
Index 231