‘If You Have to Say You Are, You Aren’t’

The Oxford Handbook of Identities in Organizations ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198827115.013.31 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 423-441

Author(s):

Gail T. Fairhurst ◽

Mathew L. Sheep

Keyword(s):

Identity Construction ◽

Collective Identities ◽

Managerial Agency ◽

Dynamic Interplay ◽

Discursive Resources

How are identities constituted in a post-truth context? To answer this question, the authors of this chapter take a paradox approach to identity, which can address the contradictions of a post-truth era. They show how the paradoxical tensions that actors experience serve as discursive resources for individual and collective identities. The authors assert that the greater the interrelatedness of paradoxical tensions evidenced in discourse, the more likely are they to knot in a dynamic interplay that may result in self-referential action of a contradictory or paradoxical nature. Drawing from the logic of extreme context research, the chapter examines the discourse of the post-truth presidency of Donald J. Trump to illustrate how identity knotting subverts managerial agency in identity construction.

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“Being Jew is like Travelling by Bus”: Constructing Jewish Identities in Spain between Individualisation and Group Belonging

Journal of Religion in Europe ◽

10.1163/18748929-00904002 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 324-349 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Julia Martínez-Ariño

Keyword(s):

Identity Construction ◽

Sense Of Belonging ◽

Symbolic Boundaries ◽

Main Argument ◽

Collective Identities ◽

Religious Minorities ◽

Group Belonging

Individualisation theory has mainly focused on the deregulation of religion and dissolution of traditional majority churches, but there is less evidence of its appropriateness for religious minorities. In this paper I contribute to this debate by analysing how Jews in Spain construct their Jewish sense of belonging in the context of a diverse, traditionally Catholic society. My main argument is that Jews, as a small and invisible minority, confronted by the exigencies of a secular and plural context, combine notions of religious choice and ethnic ascription in narrating their individual and collective identities. Consequently, while the theory of individualisation partly accounts for this identity construction, the specificities of the context and the minority condition require additional conceptual tools about collective identities and symbolic boundaries.

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Constructing a Collective Identity Across Conflict Lines: Joint Israeli-Palestinian Peace Movement Organizations*

Mobilization An International Quarterly ◽

10.17813/1086-671x-20-2-193 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 193-212 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Michelle Gawerc

Keyword(s):

Identity Construction ◽

Collective Identity ◽

Peace Movement ◽

Trust Building ◽

Political Environment ◽

Collective Identities ◽

Protracted Conflict ◽

Collective Actors ◽

Movement Organizations ◽

Critical Process

For collective action to occur and be sustainable, social movements must construct collective identities and develop a sense of themselves as collective actors. This is especially difficult for movements that work across deep political and cultural chasms, and in situations of protracted conflict. Yet, there has been almost no research on how movement organizations, which work across conflict lines in situations of protracted conflict, are able to establish this sense of cohesion. This project investigates how two joint Israeli-Palestinian peace movement organizations are able to construct shared collective identities in a political environment where each side is cast as the enemy of the other. The findings indicate that in protracted conflicts, trust building is a distinct and critical process inherent in constructing a collective identity. The findings similarly reveal that while storytelling goes a long way toward establishing trust initially, ultimately, collective identity construction depends on visible confirmatory actions.

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Collective identities and formal ideologies in the Irish grassroots pro-asylum seeker movement

Irish Journal of Sociology ◽

10.7227/ijs.0015 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 48-72

Author(s):

Niall Moran

Keyword(s):

Social Movement ◽

Identity Construction ◽

Support Group ◽

Collective Identity ◽

Crucial Role ◽

Asylum Seeker ◽

Identity Work ◽

Collective Identities ◽

The Relationship ◽

Over Time

This article examines the relationship between formal ideologies and processes of collective identity construction across two key waves of mobilisation of pro-asylum-seeker groups in Ireland, namely radical anti-racism and the multicultural support group. In each period, a formal ideological stance delimited the scope of actions available to members. In examining the interplay between collective identity and ideology, the actions and trajectories of individual social movement organisations (SMOs) and the movement at large can be better understood. Processes of collective identity construction facilitated SMO members in creating conditional senses of ‘weness’. In instances, these challenged formal ideologies with differing results. In the case of radical anti-racism, it created a reformist/radical division among members. In the multicultural support group, it created a reformist/non-reformist division. These cleavages are crucial to understanding how the movement progressed over time. Collective identity work is understood as a means through which individuals can challenge or reinforce formal ideologies, thus playing a crucial role in the trajectories of the SMOs examined and their repertoire of actions.

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Identity Construction in Mergers and Acquisitions

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199689576.013.5 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Janne Tienari ◽

Eero Vaara

Keyword(s):

National Identity ◽

Mergers And Acquisitions ◽

Identity Construction ◽

Organizational Identity ◽

Sense Of Self ◽

Future Research ◽

Discursive Resources

This chapter conceptualizes identity construction in mergers and acquisitions (M and As) as sensemaking where discursive resources are mobilized to construct, transform, and at times destruct senses of organizational identity. M and As are offered as specific contexts where resources such as stereotypes, tropes, narratives, and antenarratives are drawn on to make sense of self (and others) in the transition from legacy organizations to new combined organizational entities. The chapter proposes a theoretical framing based on discursive sensemaking and offers examples from extant research to specify and illustrate it. As a case in point it highlights dynamics of discursive sensemaking with regard to national identity in international M and As. Finally, the chapter outlines avenues for future research.

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Are Zoroastrians a Nation? Different Identity Formations/Patterns of Iranian and Indian Zoroastrians

Iran and the Caucasus ◽

10.1163/1573384x-20160303 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (3-4) ◽

pp. 277-296 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Paulina Niechciał ◽

Mateusz M. Kłagisz

Keyword(s):

Identity Construction ◽

Collective Identity ◽

Sense Of Belonging ◽

Field Research ◽

Religious Community ◽

Religious Communities ◽

Collective Identities ◽

Socially Constructed ◽

Iranian History ◽

Identity Formations

The article contributes to the debate on the modern transformations of collective identities and nation-building processes. We compare different identity patterns of Zoroastrians in Iran and India and answer the question whether one can consider them as a nation or as separate ethno-religious communities. The paper is an answer to a suggestion made by Rashna Writer about national ties linking Zoroastrians worldwide. Basing on field research of Zoroastrians in Iran and India, we argue that among them there are no visible traits regarding the construction of a national identity, only certain trends to remember ties with their diasporas. We believe that among the factors shaping rather a sense of belonging to a local ethno-religious community, are the concept of local ethnohistory, the usage of the Zoroastrian Dari language, strong Iranian nationalism based on a common Iranian history and a culture effectively separating Iranian Zoroastrians from their Indian coreligionists.The focus of the article is collective identity understood as something socially constructed mainly by local community’s leaders. We compare the process of identity construction of Iranian and Indian Zoroastrians, considering it as something rooted in different historical, as well as sociocultural and political contexts.

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Accent Policy and Accent Modification Enterprises as Potential Indicators of Intercultural Power Relations: A Call for an Updated Research Agenda

Perspectives on Global Issues in Communication Sciences and Related Disorders ◽

10.1044/gics3.1.22 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 22-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Brynne D. Ovalle ◽

Rahul Chakraborty

Keyword(s):

International Relations ◽

Identity Construction ◽

Social Theory ◽

Power Relations ◽

Linguistic Diversity ◽

Cultural Organization ◽

Using Data ◽

The Individual ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

This article has two purposes: (a) to examine the relationship between intercultural power relations and the widespread practice of accent discrimination and (b) to underscore the ramifications of accent discrimination both for the individual and for global society as a whole. First, authors review social theory regarding language and group identity construction, and then go on to integrate more current studies linking accent bias to sociocultural variables. Authors discuss three examples of intercultural accent discrimination in order to illustrate how this link manifests itself in the broader context of international relations (i.e., how accent discrimination is generated in situations of unequal power) and, using a review of current research, assess the consequences of accent discrimination for the individual. Finally, the article highlights the impact that linguistic discrimination is having on linguistic diversity globally, partially using data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and partially by offering a potential context for interpreting the emergence of practices that seek to reduce or modify speaker accents.

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