Identities in Organization Studies

Abstract

Identities scholarship, in particular that focused on self-identities, has burgeoned in recent years. With dozens of papers on identities in organizations published in this journal by a substantial community, doubtless with more to come, now is an appropriate juncture to reflect on extant scholarship and its future prospects. I highlight three key strands of self-identities research in Organization Studies with particular reference to six articles collected in the associated Perspectives issue of this journal. In reviewing the contribution that work published in Organization Studies has made to debates on the nature of identities, how identities are implicated in organizational processes and outcomes, and the micro-politics of identities formation, I seek also to contribute to ongoing deliberations and to raise issues and questions for further research. I conclude with a call for increased efforts to integrate self-identities issues into the research agendas of sub-fields within organization theory.

Populating the social realm: new roles arising from social procurement

“…Moreover, professionals often have a leading role in the creation of institutions (Scott, 2008), it is, therefore, reasonable to assume that social procurement professionals are important carriers of a social sustainability agenda in the sector. Studying identities is an established way understand and theorize processes of organizing and Brown (2019) suggests that identity studies should be more present within the sub-fields of organizational theory, like in the case of this paper, construction management research.…”

Identity Drift: The Multivocality of Ethical Identity in Islamic Financial Institution

“…Studies of organizations frequently define identity as a set of subjective meanings and experiences collected by organizational members that help to address questions related to the core features of an organization, its self-image, or its distinctive character (Alvesson and Robertson 2016;Whetten 2006). Concerns over identity arise as organizations seek to distinguish themselves from other, similar organizations (Alvesson et al 2008;Brown 2018). The existence of organizational identity is assumed to allow organizational members to describe what is central, distinctive, and enduring about their organization and how these characteristics act as a perceptual screen or filter that influences the way organizations process and interpret information (Dutton et al 1994;Gioia and Thomas 1996).…”

“…This literature has typically framed the organization as an individual who is or can be made aware of whom he/she is (is not) as compared to other organizations. The process of identity change might more appropriately be viewed as iterative and often unstable in response to multiple embedded, overlapping and interrelated discourses at both organizational and societal levels (Brown 2018), in which one particular 'voice' or discourse may suddenly or unexpectedly appear to be stronger or more prominent than other 'voices' or discourses, as discussed in the following conceptualization.…”

The Killing Fields of Identity Politics

“…Snow and Anderson, use the term 'identity work' to describe 'the range of activities individuals engage in to create, present and sustain personal identities that are congruent with and supportive of the self-concept ' (1987: 1348). Another example by Brown (2018) states that identities are 'most often regarded as temporary "fixes" concocted by individuals to impose a degree of coherence in the face of assorted vulnerabilities' (p.4). Apart from both authors presuming or exaggerating the levels of intentionality on the part of individuals, Snow and Anderson assume unproblematically that it is possible for individuals to 'create' and 'sustain' identities in a completely unfettered manner, while Brown could give more weight to the fundamental premise that identities cannot simply be concocted, since they are always contingent on the 'other'.…”