A Paradox Approach to Societal Tensions during the Pandemic Crisis

Essential Work in the U.S. during COVID-19: Navigating Vulnerability–Sustainability Tensions

“…First, our qualitative analysis extends research on organizational tension, precarious work, and emotion work [14] by identifying the tightly coupled and contradictory emotions that were associated with the ways in which workers navigated the fluctuating meanings of "essential". That essential workers were able to tack back and forth between contradictory emotion poles is reflective of how the meaning of "essential" was constantly in flux.…”

“…Tensions offer a useful entry point to explore the complex and sometimes paradoxical landscape posed by COVID-19 [14]. Sharma and colleagues called for research that examines the societal tensions around the pandemic as constitutive elements that underscore this unique moment in history [14].…”

“…Tensions offer a useful entry point to explore the complex and sometimes paradoxical landscape posed by COVID-19 [14]. Sharma and colleagues called for research that examines the societal tensions around the pandemic as constitutive elements that underscore this unique moment in history [14]. To this end, we propose a tension-centered framework to investigate the ways in which emotional work and workplace dignity bring to the surface dilemmas for individuals performing essential work as organizations aim for sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…Similarly, Hengst and colleagues [20] discovered that working through sustainability tensions allowed organizational members to both legitimate novel sustainability strategies and maintain mainstream strategies. Hahn, in Sharma et al [14], pointed out how COVID-19 exacerbated the inherent paradoxical nature of organizational sustainability in addressing economic, social and environmental threats to organizations. He called attention to the need to focus on systemic tensions and paradoxes "collectively before they become salient" (p. 133).…”

What Is “This” a Case of? Generative Theorizing for Disruptive Times

“…Interestingly, paradox scholars have not missed the insight that the COVID-19 pandemic has made many latent paradoxical tensions more salient than they were before (Keller et al, 2021). It has been argued that the COVID-19 pandemic is a "case of" the intensification of paradoxical tensions, notably concerning sustainability (Sharma et al, 2021), human resources management and work-life balance (Pradies et al, 2021). Will these observations lead to further attempts to work directly with managers, organizations, and macrolevel actors to address them in real time?…”