Articulating identities

Abstract

One symptom of individualism in liquid modernity is the search for `identity'. Using the five theoretically discrete articles in this special issue as both a `rich' discursive resource and a point of departure, we develop a supplementary reading of the narratives which appear to inform identity research. We suggest that, while social agents in pursuit of `identity' draw on a cacophony of discursive sources, it is the varieties of `self—other' talk which emerge as the critical ingredient in processes of identity formation. The dualities that all such self—other talk articulate can be seen as discursive reflections of the more fundamental relationship between the individual and sociality. In turn, this is seen to refract one of the persistent problems of organizational analysis: the agency—structure issue. In addition, while we argue that deploying a discursive perspective to analyze identity work offers distinctive insights, such an approach carries with it an epistemological consequence. For what the articles also indicate is that in any attempt to delineate the `identity of identities', researchers need to be aware of not only the reflexivity displayed by social actors constructing `identity' but also of their own role in `re-authoring' such scripts. We briefly explore the implications of this for identity theory and organizational analysis more generally.

Identity, identity formation and identity work in entrepreneurship: conceptual developments and empirical applications

“…From this perspective insufficient attention has been paid in entrepreneurship to the process of identity construction and how this is related to the processes of organising, that is, "the routine activities which characterise much of organizational life" as well as "the objectives that organizations (at least notionally) pursue" (Coupland and Brown, 2012: 2). If identity is increasingly viewed as being friable, fluid, ephemeral and fragile (Bauman, 2000) then the research focus must shift from identity per se to the processes of identity formation (Ybema et al, 2009;Clegg and Baumeler, 2010;Coupland and Brown, 2012). Given that identity "is crucial to how and what one values, thinks, feels and does in all social domains, including organisations" (Albert, Ashforth and Dutton, 2000: 14), it is vital that it is better understood, particularly in determining "how actors insert themselves into organisational life" (Carroll and Levy, 2008: 76).…”

“…Falck et al (2009) suggest that an individual's sense of identity is influenced by considerations of social desirability. As entrepreneurs do not construct their identities alone, identity can be regarded as a fundamental bridging concept between the individual and the social (Ybema et al, 2009;Watson, 2009). Essentially, it creates a medium through which the entrepreneurial self and the social interact, as the norms and prescriptions, which arise from social interaction impact upon individual behavior (Laakkonen, 2012).…”

Organizational Identity: An Ambiguous Concept in Practical Terms

“…Content techniques focus on what is said and help decode themes in a general understanding, without going into context. However, the narrative is always articulated in a context that brings dialectic to the center, whereby individual talks of both the personal and collective (institutional) discourse (Ybema et al 2009). Dialectics bring to the center the political nature of the narratives: i.e., "It is impossible to understand human conduct by ignoring its intentions, and it is impossible to understand human intentions by ignoring the settings in which they make sense" (Czarniawska 1998, p. 4;Schütz 1973).…”

Moral panic, moral regulation and essentialization of identities: Discursive struggle over unethical business practices in the Finnish national media

“…Despite unethical and illegal business speculations, a nation and its people can be reauthored as moral through essentializing 'truth claims' concerning 'who we are and are not' (see Ybema et al 2009). Essentializing can be understood as a discursive move aiming to stabilize and simplify identities caused by a 'critical incident', also making them more controllable, separable and thus more easily evaluated morally.…”