In the Name of the Law: A Study of Undocumented Immigrants’ Experience of Legal Violence

We study the lived experience of undocumented immigrants in Italy through the lenses of various immigration laws and associated legal frameworks. By doing so, we also examine the adequacy of current moral guidelines and principles that define the normative ground rules for protecting undocumented immigrants. We find that, despite their acquired social legitimacy, immigration laws and frameworks often generate legal violence. The multifaceted and complex nature of legal violence can undermine core moral values and manifest in three key mutually reinforcing forms: normative violence, symbolic violence, and identity violation. Our study reveals that undocumented immigrants’ experience of legal violence is mainly due to moral precepts that fail to provide explicit moral clarities according to context-specific complexities. We find that moral issues embedded in convoluted forms of violence can be addressed through transformation processes such as reforming legal institutions and frameworks. More importantly, to counter legal violence in organizational and societal settings, we require an integrative moral and legal system. By this we mean that every single law and decree that is developed in this regard, as well as the way it is executed by powerful actors and institutions in the society, must conform to the micro moral principles of organizations. The aggregate of these reforms (through micro principles actions) has to be aligned with macro boundaries set by core human values that shape moralities in broader societies

Misrepresentation of Marginalized Groups: A Critique of Epistemic Neocolonialism

I argue that meta-ignorance and meta-insensitivity are the key sources influencing the reoccurrence of the (un)conscious misrepresentation of marginalized groups in management and organization research; such misrepresentation, in effect, perpetuates epistemic neocolonialism. Meta-ignorance describes incorrect epistemic attitudes, which render researchers ignorant about issues such as contextual history and emotional and political aspects of a social problem. Researcher meta-ignorance can be a permanent feature, given how researchers define, locate, and make use of their epistemic positionality and privilege. In contrast, meta-insensitivity is a special issue that arises when researchers miss multiple opportunities to capture valuable aspects of marginalized groups’ voices or their life experiences and expectations. The problem of meta-insensitivity during fieldwork is more serious because researchers—despite their apparent willingness to be innovative—fail to understand how to be sensitive toward marginalized groups. The perpetuation of these elements’ misrepresentation contributes to long-lasting negative consequences for marginalized groups. To counter this, I introduce and conceptualize the idea of oppositional views which researchers can mobilize to address misrepresentation of marginalized groups and challenge epistemic neocolonialism

Experience of Marginalization in Noncooperative Spaces: The Case of Undocumented Migrant Workers in Italy

Undocumented migrant workers are among a group of marginalized stakeholders who are severely exploited at their workplace and across broader society. Despite recent scholarly discussions in marginalized stakeholder theory and migration studies, our understanding of how undocumented workers experience marginalization in noncooperative spaces remains very limited. In noncooperative spaces, uncooperative powerful actors deliberately thwart cooperation with local marginalized stakeholders and fail to develop supportive institutional frameworks, such as regulative and transparent governance principles. To address these issues, we conducted interviews with 47 undocumented workers and civil society workers in Italy. Our findings reveal that the marginalization experienced by undocumented workers encompasses socio-economic immobility, systemic incapability, and a sense of meaninglessness. Further, our research challenges the principles of stakeholder capitalism inherent in traditional stakeholder theory, revealing the inadequacy of conventional notions in noncooperative spaces where marginalized stakeholders deal with disempowerment and immobility. We delve into the silent and tacit collusion among uncooperative firms in these spaces, shedding light on the ways in which this problematic cooperation leads to the creation of normative harm. Moreover, we introduce the experience of meaninglessness as an internal barrier hindering migrant inclusion, underscoring the imperative need for widespread immigration reforms and normative changes to foster an environment conducive to meaningful transformations for migrants

Epistemic injustice and hegemonic ordeal in management and organization studies: Advancing Black scholarship

Why do the majority of (White) academics within management and organization studies (MOS) endorse discourses of equality, diversity and inclusion on the one hand yet ignore the epistemic injustice suffered by Black scholars on the other? We demonstrate how White supremacy within a historically racist academia marginalizes non-White bodies from knowledge production and dissemination by embedding epistemic injustice in MOS, and diminishing their utility globally. To expose the multifaceted harm caused by White supremacy, we reflect on Black scholars’ experiences of epistemic injustice, conceptualizing their work (i.e. Black scholarship) as underpinned by epistemic struggle and epistemic survival. We conceptualize epistemic struggle as striving to produce and disseminate knowledge in the face of difficulties and resistance generated by structural and agential powers. Epistemic survival denotes the sustained presence of Black scholarship through compromise, collusion and radicalism. Subsequently, we propose collective intellectual activism based on cross-racial coalitions to eliminate epistemic injustice and locate Black scholarship at the center of MOS

The Tale of two Crises in the Time of Covid-19

We document the challenges faced by a sub-district called Phulbari in Bangladesh during Covid-19 lockdown. We do so using a series of 24 interviews with a wide range of individuals conducted during May 2020. What emerges is a picture of an under-resourced local administra- tion trying their best to cope with the situation. The local administration’s efforts have been complemented by efforts of the civil society. While social distancing policies have potentially helped prevent a Covid-19 outbreak, it has created an economic crisis in its wake. We suggest some specific policy proposals that can help alleviate the economic crisis without risking an outbreak

Toward a Theory of Marginalized Stakeholder-centric Entrepreneurship

The neglect of marginalized stakeholders is a colossal problem in both stakeholder and entrepreneurship streams of literature. To address this problem, we offer a theory of marginalized stakeholder-centric entrepreneurship. We conceptualize how firms can utilize marginalized stakeholder input actualization through which firms should process a variety of ideas, resources, and interactions with marginalized stakeholders and then filter, internalize and finally realize important elements that improve a variety of related socio-economic, ethical, racial, contextual, political and identity issues. This input actualization process enables firms to innovate with marginalized stakeholders and develop marginalized stakeholder capabilities. To this end, firms fulfil both of their moral and entrepreneurial claims to marginalized stakeholders

Microcredit, the corporatization of nongovernmental organizations, and academic activism: The example of Professor Anu Muhammad

Based on an interview with academic-activist Professor Anu Muhammad, this edited transcript illuminates the corporatization of nongovernmental organizations, with specific reference to perpetuating the negative effects of neoliberal microcredit practices in developing countries. It focuses upon how such corporatization is contributing to corruption and the weakened role of the state. The concept of poor-people-led cooperatives is proposed as an alternative as they are more congruent with actively maintaining cultural traditions, protecting social cohesion, and mobilizing collective community-level energy to alleviate misery and reduce poverty

Rana Plaza fieldwork and academic anxiety: Some reflections

The Rana Plaza collapse, which took place in Bangladesh in 2013, killed and injured at least 1135 and 2500 people respectively. Although the structural fault with the building had been identified before the collapse, the owner of the building and five garment factories housed in Rana Plaza had forced workers to continue production for 31 Western multinational corporations (MNCs). It was the deadliest structural failure in modern history, and resulted in a horrific rescue operation. First, the fire brigade did not have the necessary training and equipment to rescue the victims, and so the general public also participated in the rescue operation. Second, when victims were rescued, it was found that many of them had lost their limbs or suffered severe internal injuries, including internal organ failure, due to several days without water. After the completion of the rescue, the victims received neither appropriate compensation nor rehabilitation to overcome their psychological trauma and physical disabilities

Self-Representation of Marginalized Groups: A New Way of Thinking through W. E. B. Du Bois

I address an interesting puzzle of how marginalized groups gain self-representation and influence firms’ strategies. Accordingly, I examine the case of access to low-cost HIV/AIDS drugs in South Africa by integrating W. E. B. Du Bois’s work into stakeholder theory. Du Bois’s scholarly work, most notably his founding contribution to Black scholarship, has profound significance in the humanities and social sciences disciplines and vast potential to inspire a new way of thinking and doing research in the management and organization fields, including business ethics research. By drawing on Du Bois’s works, I argue that through reconstruction of their selves—knowing their souls—marginalized groups know their capabilities better, enabling them to overcome their political and strategic limitations and ensure their true self-representation. They are also empowered to use political imagination and strategies of resistance against more powerful opponents. This influences powerful actors to accept the demands of marginalized groups