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Beyond dis-identification: A discursive approach to self-alienation in contemporary organizations

Judge Business School, Cambridge University, j.costas{at}jbs.cam.ac.uk

Peter Fleming

Work and Organization at Queen Mary College, University of London, p.fleming{at}qmul.ac.uk

Dis-identification is now an important research area in organization studies investigating how employees subjectively distance themselves from managerial domination by constructing identities considered more `authentic'. But how should we understand situations where actors become aware that their putative`real' selves are paradoxically unreal and foreign? We draw inspiration from the concept of self-alienation to explain experiences beyond dis-identification, where actors perceive the truth of themselves (`who I really am') as alien. An empirical study of a global management consultancy firm demonstrates how a discursive and non-essentialist understanding of self-alienation might usefully capture this experience of identity. Three causes of self-alienation are proposed and we discuss their significance in relation to identity and authenticity in contemporary organizations.

Key Words: authenticity • discourse • dis-identification • imaginary • narrative • power

Human Relations, Vol. 62, No. 3, 353-378 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0018726708101041


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