Using Antenarrative to Uncover Systems of Power in Mid-20th Century Policies on Marriage and Maternity at IBM

Abstract

In this article, we use extant International Business Machines' internal communications to demonstrate how Boje's notion of "antenarrative" can serve as a methodology for feminist historiography and as a way of uncovering forgotten and unchallenged systems of power and legitimacy in technical and professional communication. The antenarrative fragments of any official, sanctioned story give us insight into the ways in which power has been distributed throughout an organization and where agency can be claimed in real time. We also see that a methodology that considers the untold and unofficial stories of women in the workplace works to explain current distributions of power. This can be done by investigating the antenarratives that threaten to disrupt the prepackaged grand narrative of organizations; we show this specifically through a case study of International Business Machines' archival memos in contrast with the company's website and public relations documents.

(Re)Kindle

“…Therefore, antenarrative is a feasible means of considering the complex social power structures addressed through intersectionality (Hill Collins & Bilge, 2016). It can be applied to current events such as my own project on expatriate women’s lives or using archival materials to critique corporate narratives (Petersen & Moeller, 2016). Because it reflects on the local (story) and the global (narrative) as well as the relationships formed by the collaborative sensemaking, antenarrative methodology intertwines with the work of indigenous scholars such as Linda Tuhiwai Smith (2012), Margaret Kovach (2010), and Shawn Wilson (2008), voices important for anyone interested in intercultural communication research.…”

“…Intertextual analysis examines the ongoing reference and dialog between past, current, and future antenarrative materials. As high-profile organizational stories—for example, of Apple, Nike, McDonald’s, or Google—become increasingly theatrical, the spectacle of their public performances can be examined in terms of social and historical context (see Petersen & Moeller, 2016). Questions about audiences, authors, distribution, and intertextual references allow consideration of “an issue looking beyond the border of the static text … to its antenarrative systematics in ongoing dialogue, sensemaking and spectacle” (Boje, 2001, p. 79).…”

Local Knowledge as Illiterate Rhetoric: An Antenarrative Approach to Enacting Socially Just Technical Communication

“…By adopting an antenarrative approach, I follow Jones et al (2016) call on us to look “beyond dominant narratives” (p. 211). Antenarrative, the authors argue, will help scholars to uncover narratives that have been “largely unnoticed, overshadowed by dominant narratives” (p. 212); or as Petersen and Moeller (2016) indicate, we should look beyond “neat and tidy narratives” (p. 365) if the field wants to uncover “ways in which power has been distributed throughout an organization and where agency can be claimed in real time” (p. 362). Moving past grand narratives also helps the field to bring to light “competing or a collection of nondominant narratives” (Jones et al, 2016, p. 212).…”

Constrained Agency Theory and Leadership: A New Perspective to Understand How Female Police Officers Overcome the Structural and Social Impediments to Promotion

“…For example, researchers apply CAT to explain how women traverse the political workplace (Blair et al, 2013) and farming (Wolford, 2011). It has also been used to enhance understanding of the adoption and implementation of policies that affect women, such as marriage and maternity policies (Petersen & Moeller, 2016) or infant-feeding recommendations (Koerber, 2013).…”