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

Dis-identification has become a key research area in organization studies, demonstrating how employees subjectively distance themselves from managerial domination by protecting/constructing their more ‘authentic’ identities. But how should we understand situations where even these ‘real’ selves are experienced as alien and foreign? We revise the theory of self-alienation to explain cases beyond disidentification, where even back-stage identities (‘who we really are’) are considered something polluted, objectified and foreign. Drawing on an illustrative empirical vignette of a consultant, we demonstrate how a revised version of self-alienation might usefully capture experiences of work where the back-stage/front-stage boundary breaks down. We tentatively posit three causes of this self-alienation in relation to contemporary organizations, and discuss their significance in the context of organizational dis identification

Activity pattern and thermal biology of a day-flying hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum) under Mediterranean summer conditions

1 The daily activity pattern and aspects of the thermal biology are described for the day-flying hawkmoth, Macroglossum stellatarum L. (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), while foraging at a flowering population of Lavandula latifolia (Labiatae) under the dry-hot summer conditions of a southeastern Spanish locality. 2 The average abundance of M.stellatarum remained fairly constant from sunrise to about 17.00 hours (GMT), and a distinct peak occurred in the evening (18.00—20.00 hours). 3 Foraging took place over a broad range of microclimatic conditions, as described by air temperature (Ta; range 19-36°C) and solar radiation (IR; range 1–1025 Wm-2). 4 The thoracic temperature (Tth) of insects remained within relatively narrow limits (39–46°C), with the highest values occurring around noon. Variation in Tth mainly reflected differences in Ta between foraging sites and times. Tth was nonlinearly related to Ta, the rate of increase of Tth with Ta decreasing with increasing Ta. 5 The unusual tolerance of high Tth exhibited by M.stellatarum, and its enhanced thermoregulatory capacity at high Ta, enable this species to withstand the severe environmental conditions faced during diurnal foraging in the Mediterranean summer.Peer reviewe

Accounting history and accounting progress

The "new" accounting historians that emerged from the mid-1980s characterised their predecessors as relying heavily on a view of accounting as progressive and accounting change as evolutionary. From a social science perspective, progress is a problematic concept, as it implies not just change but also improvement, and thus seems to imply the making of a value judgement. As accounting has become an object of study less as a technical and more as a social phenomenon, consensus as to what constitutes an improvement becomes harder to secure. However, from a perspective grounded in historiography, this paper reviews the use of a concept of progress in the writing of history from the eighteenth century, and analyses its use, together with that of a concept of evolution, in "traditional" accounting history. Appealing to recent developments in the understanding of the role of narrative in history, the paper suggests that the use of narratives of accounting progress should not be ruled out on a priori grounds

Sociality with Objects. Social Relations in Postsocial Knowledge Societies

Knorr Cetina K. Sociality with Objects. Social Relations in Postsocial Knowledge Societies. Theory, Culture and Society. 1997;14(4):1-30