Intersecting Difference: A Dialectical Perspective

Outlining a Dialogic Framework of Difference: How do Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in India Constitute and Negotiate Difference?

“…The ''living utterance, having taken meaning and shape at a particular historical moment in a socially specific environment'' (Bakhtin, 1981, p. 276) always co-occurs with both (imagined and intertextual) past and present, as a ''continuation of it and as a rejoinder to it' ' (p. 277). Given this (fluid) ontology, 184 R. Mitra actors may strategically negotiate with difference, as highlighted by Putnam et al (2010). First, they may select one of the opposing poles, while ignoring the other.…”

“…Warren (2008) focuses on ontology rather than the epistemological side of difference. There is scope here to combine this perspective with that of Putnam et al (2010), who deconstruct actor strategies of selection, separation, source-splitting, integration, transcendence, and connection to negotiate with already constituted difference(s). Questions remain, however, on whether actors may choose to deploy a repetitive act, if recourse to collective memory is inevitable in (re)interpreting repetition, and if strategic negotiation might resist ontological repetition.…”

“This Is What We're All About”: The (Re)Construction of an Oppressive Organizational Structure

“…Putnam, Jahn, and Baker (2011) note that diversity studies (i.e., research that focus on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and disability) often conceptualize difference as a movement away from the focal point. Putnam et al (2011) advocate a move away from such approaches and propose a dialectical approach to studying difference. Putnam et al (2011) advocate a move away from such approaches and propose a dialectical approach to studying difference.…”

“…Within the communication discipline, this theory has been predominantly situated within the study of interpersonal relationships (Baxter, 2011); however, in recent years dialectical 290 The Southern Communication Journal theory has been used to examine small group communication (e.g., Kramer, Benoit, Dixon, & Benoit-Bryan, 2007) and organizational communication (e.g., Barge, Lee, Maddux, Nabring, & Townsend, 2008;Jian, 2007;Norton & Sadler, 2006;Seo et al, 2009;Tracy 2004). As Putnam et al (2011) note, ''these studies reveal that dialectic tensions pervade all aspects of organizational life . .…”

“…. Drawing upon this notion, Putnam et al (2011) argue that dialectical theory is particularly suited to study how markers of difference create tensions within organizational settings. cross organizational units and boundaries, form sites of cultural struggles, and enact processes of change'' (p. 37; see also .…”