The Politics of Meaning/ful Work

Fostering meaningful work in organizations: A multi-level review and integration

“…1, we propose that the context of a particular society will impact the degree to which an individual can find meaningful work as well as the degree to which specific jobs and organizations can foster a space where meaningful work is accessible. Indeed, research suggests that the meanings individuals attached to work as well as how individuals define what they consider meaningful work reflect the cultural norms, expectations, and priorities of the particular society they live in (Lair, Shenoy, McClellan, & McGuire, 2008). Qualitative research shows that discourses about a nation's cultural norms help individuals to socially construct their professional worlds and assign meaning to work (e.g., Barrett & Dailey, 2017).…”

Positioning Work Amid Discontinuities and Continuities

“…Little empirical research and theoretical development has responded to calls to investigate how cultural and generational views of work, stages of economic development, family and local community, and the amount of energy and commitment people are ready to allocate to their careers influence communicative constitutions of work meanings (Broadfoot et al, 2008;Kuhn et al, 2008;Lair et al, 2008;Lair & Wieland, 2012;Rosso, Dekas, & Wrzesniewski, 2010). This study addresses this void by investigating the communicative constitutions of work meanings as dialogical constructions.…”

Socioeconomic Privilege and Meaningful Work: A Psychology of Working Perspective

“…Previous scholarly work has critiqued predominant conceptions of meaningfulness within the scientific and philosophical literature as biased by elitist perceptions of what type of work is considered valuable by societal norms (Lair, Shenoy, McClellan, & McGuire, 2008). Previous studies suggest that the meaning one construes from their work is shaped by their social context and changes as societal perceptions shift (Barrett & Dailey, 2018;Florian, Costas, & Kärreman, 2018).…”

“…Previous studies suggest that the meaning one construes from their work is shaped by their social context and changes as societal perceptions shift (Barrett & Dailey, 2018;Florian, Costas, & Kärreman, 2018). Similarly, researchers have questioned the applicability of meaningful work across social stratifications (Lair et al, 2008;Lips-Wiersma et al, 2016). From this perspective, workers who struggle to meet basic survival needs may not have time or energy to concern themselves with issues of meaningfulness.…”