Collegiality, Friendship, and the Value of Remote Work
Peer reviewed, Journal article
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Date
2023Metadata
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- Publikasjoner fra Cristin [3362]
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Abstract
Philosophers have not paid much attention to the impact of remote work on the nature of
work and the workplace. The overall aim of this paper is to contribute to further debate
over the value of remote work by focusing on one important dimension of it – the effect
on collegial relationships.
I distinguish two types of collegial relationships. On the one hand, there are what I call
“Kantian collegial relationships”, which have been outlined in a recent account by Betzler
& Löschke. These are colleagues who acknowledge and respect each other as equals, and
provide relationship goods in a fair and distributive manner. On the other hand, there are
what I call “collegial friendships”. In contrast to Kantian colleagues, collegial friends are
emotionally supportive and show appreciation for each other for who they are, not just
because they are equals. Both types of collegial relationship must be taken into consider-
ation if we want to fully understand why we value our colleagues.
I then show that there are reasons to believe that remote work will have a chilling effect
on collegial friendships. Remote workers must interact online, which undermines forms of
self-disclosure that are necessary for intimate relationships to form, like collegial friend-
ship. Conversely, I suggest that remote work, for exactly the same reasons, will have a
positive effect on Kantian collegial relationships. The proliferation of remote work forces
us to consider whether this tradeoff is acceptable.