Organizing Social Class: Implications for Working-Class Dignity

Lucas, Kristen; Gist, Angela N.

doi:10.5465/ambpp.2015.10722abstract

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Workplace instrumentalities are evidenced in several ways: employees are viewed as narrowly delimited role occupants, assumed to have no other interests or priorities than work, positioned as readily replaceable by someone or something that serves the organization better, and regarded as ‘bundles of human capital rather than as conscious, freely choosing agents’ (Islam, , p. 237; Karlsson, ). Another concern is that workplaces are rife with inequalities – from unequal distribution of material rewards, to asymmetrical power relationships and rules of interaction, to limitations on opportunities to engage in meaningful work, to disproportionately allocated space (privacy, safety, and comfort), and more (Lucas and Gist, ). These inequalities can influence respectful treatment, autonomy, and other key indicators of dignity (Sayer, ), as well as limit individuals’ agency in defending themselves in the face of dignity threats (Newman, ).…”

Section: Workplace Dignitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Workplace Dignity: Communicating Inherent, Earned, and Remediated Dignity

Lucas

2015

J Management Studies

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106

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Extant research on dignity at work has revealed conditions that contribute to indignity, employees' responses to dignity threats, and ways in which employees' inherent dignity is undermined. But while dignity -and specifically indignity -is theorized as a phenomenon subjectively experienced and judged by individuals, little research has privileged workers' own perspectives. In this study, working adults reveal how they personally experience and understand meanings of dignity at work. I describe three core components of workplace dignity and the communicative exchanges through which dignity desires commonly are affirmed or denied: inherent dignity as recognized by respectful interaction, earned dignity as recognized by messages of competence and contribution, and remediated dignity as recognized by social interactions and organizational practices that conceal the instrumental and unequal nature of work. Based on theoretical insights drawn from examining the relationships between these components, I argue that workplace dignity is a phenomenon theoretically distinct from human dignity.

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Section: Workplace Dignitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Workplace Dignity: Communicating Inherent, Earned, and Remediated Dignity

Lucas

2015

J Management Studies

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111

106

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Is it safe to bring myself to work? Understanding LGBTQ experiences of workplace dignity

Baker

Lucas

2017

Can J Adm Sci

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Despite increased efforts by more organizations to be seen as "gay-friendly," workplaces remain challenging sites for LGBTQ employees to navigate. We examine the ways in which LGBTQ employees experience dignity threats in the workplace and the protection strategies they use to deflect those threats. Interviews with 36 LGBTQ working adults revealed that their dignity is threatened by a range of identitysensitive inequalities that undermine their safety and security when they claim authentic gendered/sexual identities. Specific safety and security threats to dignity include social harm, autonomy violations, career harm, and physical harm. To (re)claim their dignity, they engage in four primary dignity protection strategies: avoiding harm by seeking safe spaces, deflecting harm with sexual identity management, offsetting identity devaluations by emphasizing instrumental value, and creating safe spaces for authenticity and dignity.

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Organizing Social Class: Implications for Working-Class Dignity

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Workplace Dignity: Communicating Inherent, Earned, and Remediated Dignity

Workplace Dignity: Communicating Inherent, Earned, and Remediated Dignity

Is it safe to bring myself to work? Understanding LGBTQ experiences of workplace dignity

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