In the contemporary economic imaginary, the concept of entrepreneurship occupies a central if conflicted position, simultaneously representing both conformity and resistance. On the one hand entrepreneurship has come to signify the... more
In the contemporary economic imaginary, the concept of entrepreneurship occupies a central if conflicted position, simultaneously representing both conformity and resistance. On the one hand entrepreneurship has come to signify the upholding and cementing dynamic that makes modern market capitalism possible (du Gay, 1991), and to engage in entrepreneurship is thus in this sense to be part of a conservative discourse. On the other hand, entrepreneurship is commonly symbolized as representing a disruptive, even revolutionary force (Anderson and Warren, 2011), one where talk of “mavericks” (Hall, 1997; Silver, 2012), “rebels” (Ket de Vries, 1997) or disruption more generally (Bilton, 2013; Ries, 2011; Stross 2012) is common in the discourse of the same. Within contemporary capitalism, then, to present oneself as an entrepreneur is to occupy a complex space betwixt and between the corporation – a form which the entrepreneurial organization often strives to turn into – and the “outsider” who challenges the very same corporate world. Entrepreneurship can thus, although this is not acknowledged in the existent literature, come to signify resistance, but a very complex form of resistance – one that can quite easily, and often by necessity (e.g. by alignment with venture capital or the likes), become re-inscribed into the same corporate structure to which it tries to formulate resistance.
Our paper will inquire into this implicit but unacknowledged and unstudied contradiction by way of a case-study based on a highly successful start-up venture, SoundCloud, in which both the founders and the employees struggle to negotiate their positions between being a successful company within an obviously corporate framework, and exhibiting an organizational identity that emphasizes resistance to the very same frameworks. In both their discourse and their acts, people in the company attempt to highlight how working in an entrepreneurial organization represents resistance to (assumed) more restrictive and less ethical forms of corporate engagements. At the same time, they are embedded in notions of contemporary capitalism such as market share, growth, valuations, return on investments and the likes.
What we aim to do, in other words, is to develop the theory of organizational resistance (e.g. Ashcraft, 2005; Fleming and Spicer, 2007; Mumby, 2005) by highlighting the way in which modern discourses of entrepreneurialism (Down and Reveley, 2004; Jones and Spicer, 2005; Malach-Pines wt al., 2005; Ogbor, 2000) contain a complex and fundamentally contradictory relationship between resistance and conformism, and how this plays out in the lived practices of a start-up venture. By paying attention to the contradictions that emerge when a company attempts to hold on to an image of being an outsider whilst being aggressively courted by surrounding industrial dynamics (including but not limited to raising several rounds of financing and winning industry awards and similar accolades), we extend the theory of resistance in organizational settings. Namely by demonstrating the manner in which discourses of resistance can be part of a greater corporate ideology, and also by highlighting the conflicts that identifying with a “pre-packaged” (i.e. discursively pre-determined) notion of resistance and otherness can bring to an entrepreneurial organization.
Our paper will inquire into this implicit but unacknowledged and unstudied contradiction by way of a case-study based on a highly successful start-up venture, SoundCloud, in which both the founders and the employees struggle to negotiate their positions between being a successful company within an obviously corporate framework, and exhibiting an organizational identity that emphasizes resistance to the very same frameworks. In both their discourse and their acts, people in the company attempt to highlight how working in an entrepreneurial organization represents resistance to (assumed) more restrictive and less ethical forms of corporate engagements. At the same time, they are embedded in notions of contemporary capitalism such as market share, growth, valuations, return on investments and the likes.
What we aim to do, in other words, is to develop the theory of organizational resistance (e.g. Ashcraft, 2005; Fleming and Spicer, 2007; Mumby, 2005) by highlighting the way in which modern discourses of entrepreneurialism (Down and Reveley, 2004; Jones and Spicer, 2005; Malach-Pines wt al., 2005; Ogbor, 2000) contain a complex and fundamentally contradictory relationship between resistance and conformism, and how this plays out in the lived practices of a start-up venture. By paying attention to the contradictions that emerge when a company attempts to hold on to an image of being an outsider whilst being aggressively courted by surrounding industrial dynamics (including but not limited to raising several rounds of financing and winning industry awards and similar accolades), we extend the theory of resistance in organizational settings. Namely by demonstrating the manner in which discourses of resistance can be part of a greater corporate ideology, and also by highlighting the conflicts that identifying with a “pre-packaged” (i.e. discursively pre-determined) notion of resistance and otherness can bring to an entrepreneurial organization.
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I sidste magtudredning blev det påpeget, at kønsmagten er under sociokulturel forandring, mens den politisk og økonomisk forbliver ulige fordelt i mænds favør. I de 20 år, der er gået, er det dog ikke lykkedes at rette op på det forhold.... more
I sidste magtudredning blev det påpeget, at kønsmagten er under sociokulturel forandring, mens den politisk og økonomisk forbliver ulige fordelt i mænds favør. I de 20 år, der er gået, er det dog ikke lykkedes at rette op på det forhold. Snarere er Danmark sakket bagud på internationale ligestillingsranglister, særligt når det kommer til økonomisk magt. I denne artikel præsenterer vi dels de nyeste tal på området, dels argumenterer vi for, at ligestillingsdagsordenen må suppleres med et bredere blik for mangfoldighed. Særligt mangler der intersektionel forskning, dvs. forskning om de dynamiske relationer mellem forskellige identitetsdimensioner – og disses betydning for individers og gruppers muligheder for at tiltage sig og udøve magt. Vi fokuserer på de fortsatte skævheder i og udfordringer for dansk erhvervsliv, men peger også på deres bredere konsekvenser i et magtperspektiv
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Global mobility of employees: creating an audit tool to support good practice The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action ‘Global Mobility of Employees’ (GLOMO) strives for a comprehensive investigation of global mobility into EU countries and... more
Global mobility of employees: creating an audit tool to support good practice The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action ‘Global Mobility of Employees’ (GLOMO) strives for a comprehensive investigation of global mobility into EU countries and within the EU and its impact on international careers. Using qualitative and quantitative research methods, 15 early-stage researchers and their supervisors explore the conditions for career mobility and advancement among self-initiated expatriates in Europe. The studies analyse key variables at the micro-level of individual employees, meso-level variables across a sample of different companies and macro-level factors capturing different institutional contexts at the national level.
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In this chapter, we expand on the links between diversity and identity and on the relevance of considering them jointly in the context of the workplace. The chapter provides the reader with a succinct historical background of diversity... more
In this chapter, we expand on the links between diversity and identity and on the relevance of considering them jointly in the context of the workplace. The chapter provides the reader with a succinct historical background of diversity management and a reflection on categories and categorization. The chapter also examines how the management of diversity contrasts with how individuals attempt to make sense of their identities in the workplace, thus speaking to the broader intellectual conversation about structure and agency.
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Applying a conceptual framework of hyphenation, understood as the organization of racialized subjects, this paper investigates rhetorical strategies for working existing hyphens as practiced within an Action Aid Denmark initiative to... more
Applying a conceptual framework of hyphenation, understood as the organization of racialized subjects, this paper investigates rhetorical strategies for working existing hyphens as practiced within an Action Aid Denmark initiative to train young people to become public opinion leaders in anti-discrimination matters. We identify three such rhetorical strategies: (1) Silencing: Racialized subjects are organized by majority voices that speak of/for ‘the Other’; the training explicitly seeks to change the organization of public debate by working this hyphen. (2) Positioning: The main strategy for working the hyphen, as taught in the course, is to speak from a minority position, but in a manner that is recognizable to the majority. Thus, non-white participants are trained to speak with white voice; they become exceptions to the rule, tokens or role models when telling their stories in a scripted manner. And (3) Representing: In telling their own stories, the aspiring opinion leaders come...
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This special issue explores how solidarity in difference can be organized as a mutual relation that is based on participation on equal footing, fostering bonds of heterogeneity beyond conceptualizations of solidarity that depend on... more
This special issue explores how solidarity in difference can be organized as a mutual relation that is based on participation on equal footing, fostering bonds of heterogeneity beyond conceptualizations of solidarity that depend on homogeneity. In this editorial and the five articles comprising this special issue, not only are the challenges to such an endeavor explored, but also the achievements in the present and emerging imaginaries of organizing solidarity beyond an exploitative understanding of difference. The perspectives this special issue brings together include re-centering the Eurocentric concepts of organizing and solidarity, solidarity in research, solidarity as affective practice as well as the political and socio-economic relations that frame them. In addition to promoting an understanding of subjectivity shaped by power relations embedded in multiple social experiences, the articles in this special issue elaborate on solidarity in difference rather than a benevolent s...
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Diversity management efforts often turn diversity issues into a business case, thereby depoliticizing these issues and shying away from more political concerns of inequality and discriminating norms of difference. In this study, we... more
Diversity management efforts often turn diversity issues into a business case, thereby depoliticizing these issues and shying away from more political concerns of inequality and discriminating norms of difference. In this study, we explore the performative potential of activist practices to promote the repoliticization of organizational diversity work. To do so, we draw on interviews with three explicitly norm‐critical activists, discussing how insigths from their practices can inspire diversity work in formal organizational contexts. The three activists are (1) a twerk dancer, psychologist, radio host, and co‐founder of a popular fourth‐wave feminist group; (2) a project manager and co‐founder of a non‐governmental organization for minority ethnic lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender + people; and (3) an anarchist activist, gender educator, and founder of a gender network for educators. Showing how their norm‐critical practices work through discursive tensions of personal↔public...
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Abstract During the summer of 2020, a woman in Russia not only contracted COVID‐19 herself but also lost her husband to virus‐related health complications and, later, lost her job. This article is based on interviews with her about... more
Abstract During the summer of 2020, a woman in Russia not only contracted COVID‐19 herself but also lost her husband to virus‐related health complications and, later, lost her job. This article is based on interviews with her about vulnerability and ways of coping with the pandemic’s effects as the sole caregiver and breadwinner for her 4‐year‐old child. Her ways of dealing with this chain of severe, life‐changing events inspired us to analyze her case through Judith Butler’s feminist lens of vulnerability, conceptualized as the very source of resistance. The results of the analysis illustrate vulnerability and emergent modes of resistance as gendered responsibilities of giving and receiving care, as well as the power of solidarity. Furthermore, the study shows how the political, social, and economic context of Russia shapes gendered experiences of vulnerability and possibilities for resistance.
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The notion of uniqueness, as articulated at the centre of most organisational inclusion literature, is inextricably tied to Western-centric idea(l)s of the autonomous, individual and self-sufficient subject, stripped of historical... more
The notion of uniqueness, as articulated at the centre of most organisational inclusion literature, is inextricably tied to Western-centric idea(l)s of the autonomous, individual and self-sufficient subject, stripped of historical inequalities and relational embeddedness. Following a critical inclusion agenda and seeking alternatives to this predominant view, we apply a Bhabhaian postcolonial lens to the ethnographic study of organisational efforts to include indigenous Kalaallit people in the Greenlandic Police Force. Greenland has home rule, but is still part of the Kingdom of Denmark and is subject to Danish defence policy and the police force. With Bhabha’s notion of mimicry, we explore how police officers, through performing ‘Danish’ (Western) culture and professionalism, both confirm and resist colonial stereotypes and even open up pathways towards hybridity. Building on the officers’ experiences, we introduce the term ‘hybrid inclusion’ by which we emphasise two interrelated ...
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Allan Greenspan: I made a mistake in presuming that the self- interest of organi-
Social identity theory (SIT) is arguably the most influential identity theory today. The grounding idea in this theory is that individuals not only have ‘personal identities’ but also have ‘social identities’: that is, they feel an... more
Social identity theory (SIT) is arguably the most influential identity theory today. The grounding idea in this theory is that individuals not only have ‘personal identities’ but also have ‘social identities’: that is, they feel an attachment to one or more groups with which they believe they share an attribute or value that is identity-defining. Group-based diversity management, especially when related to gender- or race-/ethnicity-based social identity, is linked and discussed with regard to SIT-inspired scholarship in its original and more recent developments. The chapter also offers some thoughts on the limitations of the theory to give a complete picture of how to address diversity and identity in the workplace.
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Abstract This chapter presents the principal interpretations that took place in Denmark and Sweden regarding the discourse on ‘Diversity Management’. We organise our presentation around three major themes that are central to the local... more
Abstract This chapter presents the principal interpretations that took place in Denmark and Sweden regarding the discourse on ‘Diversity Management’. We organise our presentation around three major themes that are central to the local Scandinavian context: gender equality, migration and moral grounds. This chapter shows the important role of gender equality work practices and how these practices now tend to be progressively incorporated in a broad Diversity Management construct, possibly leading to a less radical stance. Moreover, the comparison between Denmark and Sweden reveals the political associations with Diversity Management and migration in Denmark, but not in Sweden. Our third contribution unveils the tensions between the value of equality, which remains strong in the Scandinavian welfare state model, and the actual practices of Diversity Management.
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The concept of intersectionality has for a number of years been applied to address the complexity and interconnectedness of identities and divisions within and between groups in contemporary society (Anthias, 1998; Crenshaw, 1991; Davis,... more
The concept of intersectionality has for a number of years been applied to address the complexity and interconnectedness of identities and divisions within and between groups in contemporary society (Anthias, 1998; Crenshaw, 1991; Davis, 2008). Studies based on intersectionality theory explore the impact of social divisions, identifications and power relations on the structure of peoples’ lives, particularly those considered to be marginalized (Yuval-Davis, 2006). In a nutshell, intersectionality draws attention to how the social positioning of individuals is a result of multiple overlapping processes and flows of power.
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Recent work-life balance (WLB) studies offer considerable insight into the challenges and strategies of achieving WLB for senior managers. This study shifts the focus from asking how to asking why individuals are so invested in pursuing a... more
Recent work-life balance (WLB) studies offer considerable insight into the challenges and strategies of achieving WLB for senior managers. This study shifts the focus from asking how to asking why individuals are so invested in pursuing a particular kind of WLB. Through analysing 62 life history interviews with male and female senior executives in Denmark, we develop the concept of the gendered project of the self to theorise WLB. We show how for the executives, WLB was not simply an instrumental process of time or role management; instead, pursuing WLB in a certain way was a key part of acquiring and maintaining a particular desired subjectivity or a sense of self as a better person, better worker, and better parent. We argue that theorising WLB as the gendered project of the self allows us to explicate the mechanisms through which gendered social and cultural expectations translate into how male and female executives can and want to pursue their WLB goals—firstly by driving one’s ...
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Despite years of gender equality research and initiatives, women are still highly underrepresented in top management positions. In Denmark, the number of female top managers is particularly low, despite Denmark’s public image of being a... more
Despite years of gender equality research and initiatives, women are still highly underrepresented in top management positions. In Denmark, the number of female top managers is particularly low, despite Denmark’s public image of being a country of equal opportunities. In several European countries, quota systems are proven to have a positive effect in increasing the representation of women in politics, as well as on corporate boards, but they are met with resistance from both men and women in Denmark, especially among Danish business leaders. Through empirical analysis of interviews with 45 Danish top managers, this paper investigates such resistance. Although the initial focus of the research agenda for the interviews was not quotas per se, but identity, gender and leadership more generally, the resistance towards – and even fear of – quotas was repeatedly brought up by interviewees, thereby unsettling the conversation. Based on this disturbance, we theorise gender quotas in organi...
The discourse of HRM has become subject to a code of love in which the organization expects employees to be fully committed and passionate about their work. This coded language reproduces the idea that there is one best way of managing... more
The discourse of HRM has become subject to a code of love in which the organization expects employees to be fully committed and passionate about their work. This coded language reproduces the idea that there is one best way of managing the employee, only the employee is now expected to exhibit passion by being proactive, take initiative and anticipate the future needs of the organization. The code of love thus suggests an appropriating treatment to ensure the passionate self-managing employee. However, if it is true that passion has become a prerequisite for the working subject then the code of love should be made fragile, giving way to the unmanageable and desiring subject. Such a love would go beyond the beloved. It would not try to heal and appropriate the employee, but see the goodness in exposing the self to critical wounding. Love should therefore not be a striving for the same, but rather maintain the possibility for the beloved to retain a level of alterity. If not, the pass...
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The professions have become well-established at the centre of public life over the last one hundred and fifty years, both as a mode of organization and as a discursive episteme (Perkin, 1989; Adams, this issue). However, due to social,... more
The professions have become well-established at the centre of public life over the last one hundred and fifty years, both as a mode of organization and as a discursive episteme (Perkin, 1989; Adams, this issue). However, due to social, political, cultural, economic, geographical and epistemological influences, the professions also bear an intrinsic relation to the margins. These margins are contested: they mark the points at which jurisdictions of professional practice are fought over, lost and won. The margins are unstable: what counts as peripheral to a profession is constantly being modified by institutional reform, political restructuring and wider economic trends. The margins are liminal: they are the places where professionals encounter and negotiate with other professionals, non-professionals, clients and the state. Finally, the margins are perilous: they indicate the threshold of ethical conduct across which trained practitioners have, time and again, had occasion to pass. I...
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