Organization

Although role theory appears to have been largely dismissed from the contemporary critical literature, role is nevertheless a persistent theme in the discourses of organizational actors. This paper argues that it is timely, therefore, to re-view role, particularly as it articulates with the processes of constructing identity. Drawing on three interview segments that evoke a variety of roles, we develop the notion of role as a boundary object (a concept that we have appropriated from the sociology of science and technology literature). We show that this provides a much richer and more complex understanding that recognizes role as an inherently incomplete and emergent intermediary in identity construction processes. Further, we suggest that this view of role resonates with, and informs, wider theoretical conversations about identity construction.

This paper seeks to supplement the theory that identity work incorporates a dialogic process by focusing on how such processes can proceed. The research question is: how do people's identities become meaningful? The aim is to theorize the `route to meaning construction' of the self by producing a model of micro dialogical process. The model synthesizes current research on dialogic processes and classic concepts of Bakhtin and Wittgenstein. An empirical analysis is conducted of a longitudinal multi-method engagement with an organization in the cultural sector, focusing on the multiple identity narratives of a manager. Subsequently, the model is developed to incorporate the concepts of meaning-giving tensions and enabling/militating factors.

The dynamics between identity (who I am) and anti-identity (who am I not) are drawn on to explore the identity work of senior and middle managers who have elected to embark on formal, sustained and intensive leadership development work. We construct the concept of a default identity, not primarily as an oppositional or negative identity, but as a baseline identity that, because it is securely held, has a major role to play in the understanding, acquisition and performance of more emergent identity constructions. In exploring the dynamics between management (default identity) and leadership (emergent and desirable identity) for instance, it becomes clear that each is shaped by the other in subtle and overt ways. We conclude that the recognition of the dynamics and relationships between them holds some promise for new thinking and innovation in terms of individual organizational identity work, leadership development and organizational change.

This study investigates the phenomenon of intensive remedial identity work by exploring responses to the trauma and stigma of adult bullying at work. It analyses the narratives of 20 workers who reported being bullied at work, in which they talk about persistent emotional abuse and their shifting, intensifying identity work in response. The following specific questions are explored: (a) what threats to identity does workplace bullying trigger?; (b) what are the types and remedial goals of identity work?; (c) what is the processual nature of this identity work? Analysis resulted in seven inter-related types of identity work: first-and second-level stabilizing, sensemaking, reconciling, repairing, grieving and restructuring. Each of these was associated with specific identity threats and a constellation of remedial goals. Comparative analysis among self-narratives suggested that identity work occurred in three approximate phases associated with abuse onset, escalation and cessation. Findings extend understanding of intensive remedial identity work in the face of persistently traumatic and stigmatizing organizational experiences.

Social science research can play a valuable role in enabling people to understand how their personal predicaments relate to the broader structures and historical circumstances in which they arise. This was argued by Wright Mills (1970, originally 1959) with his concept of the sociological imagination, a notion of considerable relevance to the identity issues which arise in relation to organizational involvement. Using a rare combination of ethnographic, autobiographical and interview research material, a close examination is made of two managers' identity work and the part played in this by their involvement in one specific organization in particular structural and historical circumstances. In the course of carrying out this study the concept of `identity work' has been developed and refined. This incorporates a clear analytical distinction between internal personal `self-identities' and external discursive `social-identities' with social-identities being seen as a link or bridge between socially available discourses and self-identities. `Managerial identities' take their place among the multiplicity of social-identities to which any particular manager may relate in both their `inward facing' and their `outward facing' identity work.