Firms in Film: Representations of Organizational Space, Gender and Power

The spatial context of organizations: A critique of ‘creative workspaces’

“…In our study, theory and practice are linked in the ways in which space is displayed and utilized. Panayiotou and Kafiris (2010) have analysed company spaces in films, and according to their study, the built environment and spatial practices tell a story about ‘power’. They came up with dimensions such as the geographic location (prominent–basic industrial), size, scale and the materials of the building (big–small, tall–small, expensive–modest), doors and windows (separating–connecting) décor and furnishings (style, colours).…”

“…Inspired by Panayiotou and Kafiris (2010), we conceptualized the images of creative workspaces as a story of social relations and spatially informed creativity. Panayiotou and Kafiris oriented particularly towards analysing the masculine constructs of power in terms of dominance, hierarchy, control and discipline, as well as rationality, order and the impersonal.…”

Becoming upbeat: Learning the affecto-rhythmic order of organizational practices

“…For example, studies have shown how architecture and spatial arrangements assign actors to different places and in ways that facilitate managerial control and surveillance (Baldry, 1999;Sewell & Taskin, 2015). Scholars have further illustrated how designed spaces prescribe particular patterns of movement in the workplace (Dale, 2005;Panayiotou & Kafiris, 2010) and are encoded with certain symbolic and aesthetic meanings, such as bureaucracy (Dale & Burrell, 2008;Siebert et al, 2017) and masculinity (Panayiotou & Kafiris, 2011;Tyler & Cohen, 2010). In contrast, other scholars have demonstrated how space functions as a resource for resistance to managerial control (Courpasson, Dany, & Delbridge, 2017;Taylor & Spicer, 2007;Thanem, 2012), the subversion of gendered oppression (Hirst & Schwabenland, 2018;Panayiotou, 2015), and the emergence of creative forms of action beyond organizational norms (Munro & Jordan, 2013;Shortt, 2015;Steyaert, 2010).…”

“…For them, space (1) emplaces by assigning actors to different places; (2) enchants through encoded meanings; and (3) enacts by prescribing certain patterns of movement. To illustrate, several scholars have shown how workspace design emplaces people into different social groups, such as managers and employees (Zhang & Spicer, 2014) and women and men (Panayiotou & Kafiris, 2010). In so doing, the workspace design also facilitates managerial control and surveillance (Baldry, 1999;Dale, 2005).…”

“…Perhaps the most well-known spatial arrangement through which managerial control is exercised is Bentham's panopticon, where workers are placed in the central core of an office or factory surrounded by managers' offices "with windows facing inwards enabling constant visual contact" with the workers (Halford, 2004) Scholars who embrace the critical approach have further illustrated how organizational space enchants people through encoded meanings that are designed to reinforce dominant power relations (Dale & Burrell, 2008;Fleming & Spicer, 2004). For example, the decoration, furniture, artifacts, and other elements of workspace are often designed to communicate "what kind of social activity is appropriate" (Baldry, 1997: 368), who are the legitimate space users, and who are or are not in powerful positions (Panayiotou & Kafiris, 2010;Thanem, 2012). These studies also highlight how workspaces materialize gender norms and reproduce unequal gender relations (Hirst & Schwabenland, 2018;Panayiotou, 2015;Tyler & Cohen, 2010).…”