|
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
|
Exploring Resistance from a Rhetorical Perspective
Gillian Symon
Birbeck, University of London, UK
Contemporary accounts of resistance at work have emphasized processes of identity construction and regulation (e.g. Alvesson and Willmott 2002). Case study examinations (e.g. Knights and McCabe 2000; Ezzamel et al. 2001) have been recently extended by detailed studies of the operation of discourse at the level of talk (e.g. Dick and Cassell 2002). This paper adds to these recent accounts by providing an analysis of arguments for and against a technological change project in a UK public sector organization. The objective is to demonstrate how such arguments are constructed to achieve particular interpretations of reality while resisting others (i.e. the use of persuasive rhetoric). In the examples analysed here, rhetorical strategies included: producing a range of identities for 'the resistant', IT support staff and others; disputing the 'realness' of people, things and processes (e.g. information, participation); producing and negotiating various boundaries (e.g. we/other, production worker/support staff); and drawing on local and broader cultural discourse. In this example, we also see how 'subjectivity', 'agency' and (political) 'structures' may serve as rhetorical resources. This paper argues that the focus on counter-argument (as resistance) demonstrates the disputative, politically oriented and dialogical nature of identity construction.
Key Words: identity • resistance • rhetoric • technological change
This version was published on November
1, 2005
Organization Studies, Vol. 26, No. 11,
1641-1663 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0170840605054626
 CiteULike  Complore  Connotea  Del.icio.us  Digg  Reddit  Technorati  Twitter What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
|
|
 
J. C. Suarez-Herrera, J. Springett, and C. Kagan
Critical Connections between Participatory Evaluation, Organizational Learning and Intentional Change in Pluralistic Organizations
Evaluation,
July 1, 2009;
15(3):
321 - 342.
[Abstract]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. Granzow and N. Theberge
On the Line: Worker Democracy and the Struggle Over Occupational Health and Safety
Qual Health Res,
January 1, 2009;
19(1):
82 - 93.
[Abstract]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Symon, A. Buehring, P. Johnson, and C. Cassell
Positioning Qualitative Research as Resistance to the Institutionalization of the Academic Labour Process
Organization Studies,
October 1, 2008;
29(10):
1315 - 1336.
[Abstract]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Symon
Developing the Political Perspective on Technological Change Through Rhetorical Analysis
Management Communication Quarterly,
August 1, 2008;
22(1):
74 - 98.
[Abstract]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Reveley and P. McLean
Rating tales: An evaluation of divergent views of occupational identification
Management & Organizational History,
May 1, 2008;
3(2):
127 - 145.
[Abstract]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. Costea, N. Crump, and K. Amiridis
Managerialism, the therapeutic habitus and the self in contemporary organizing
Human Relations,
May 1, 2008;
61(5):
661 - 685.
[Abstract]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Dick
Resistance, Gender, and Bourdieu's Notion of Field
Management Communication Quarterly,
February 1, 2008;
21(3):
327 - 343.
[Abstract]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Jarzabkowski and J. Sillince
A Rhetoric-in-Context Approach to Building Commitment to Multiple Strategic Goals
Organization Studies,
November 1, 2007;
28(11):
1639 - 1665.
[Abstract]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Symon and C. Clegg
Constructing identity and participation during technological change
Human Relations,
September 1, 2005;
58(9):
1141 - 1166.
[Abstract]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
