Organizing Work: The Communication Problematics of Socio-Economic Class

• In Event: Organizations, Work, and the Social Construction of Socio-Economic Class

Abstract

Organizational communication scholars have long acknowledged the importance of class and work. However, despite this recognition, research exploring the unique dynamics of class is underdeveloped. Consequently, most of what we currently know about class comes from outside the field of communication (e.g. Marx; Bourdieu). The purpose of this panel is to begin the process of developing a unique set of communication centered problematics that can serve as the starting point for a robust body of research on organizing work and socio-economic class. Four problematics will be explored. First we explore the middle class problematic. There is a perplexing tendency for people from a diverse array of socio-economic backgrounds to claim that they are from the middle class. Exploring this problematic from a communication perspective can shed new light on this tendency. Second we will explore the problematic of class, work, and gender. Some communication centered research has explored the intersection of class and masculinity (Mumby, 1998). However, it is important to understand the relationship between class and the constraint on gender performances as a whole. Third, we will explore the problematic of class, discourse, and silence. The white, middle class mindset of most academic research has privileged talk over silence (Nakagawa, 1990). However, silence can be discursive and may have a wider range of meanings for different classed experiences. Finally, the problematic of materiality and class will be explored. While some researchers claim that reality is socially constructed, others suggest that there are real material conditions that must be considered when accounting for class. We argue that ignoring material reality may be a middle class privilege. Each of these problematics will be discussed and various communication centered approaches to exploring the problematics will be proposed.

Mumby, D. K. (1998). Organizing men: Power, discourse, and the social construction of masculinity(s) in the workplace. Communication Theory, 8, 164-183
Nakagawa, G. (1990) “What are we doing here with all these Japanese?”: Subject-constitution and strategies of discursive closure represented in stories of Japanese-American internment. Communication Quarterly, 38, 288-402.

Authors

• Debbie Dougherty, University of Missouri, Columbia

• Jennifer Dixon, University of Missouri, Columbia

• Cathy Chou, University of Missouri, Columbia