.

1. Human Relations special issue call for
papers: Constructing identity in
organizations
Guest editors: Tom Keenoy, University of Leicester, Sierk Ybema, Vrije
Universiteit Amsterdam, Cliff Oswick, University of Leicester, Ida Sabelis,
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Nick Ellis, University of Leicester and Armin
Beverungen, University of Leicester.
The notion of ‘identity’ may be regarded as a bridging concept between
the individual and society. Its potential mediating quality lies in its dual
character – it refracts both the self and social structure. And, through this
dialectical process, social actors – individuals, groups, categories and
associations – may develop a sense of self (and of others) in interaction with
the social environment. Processes of identity formation are both reflexive and
complex; they involve the naming, labelling, classifying and associating of
both symbolic artefacts and social actors. It appears to be a dialogical process
of social definition (and re-definition) through doctrinal discourses and/or
the creation of shared beliefs through ‘symbolic violence’ and self-definition
(e.g. via role embracing, emotional distancing, position taking, meaning
making or rule breaking). Identity can thus be conceptualised as a complex,
multifaceted, transient construct that is negotiated (and re-negotiated) in the
dynamic interplay between internal strivings and external prescriptions,
between self-presentation and labelling by others, between achievement and
ascription, and between regulation and resistance. Identity and identities
appear to be constructed somewhere ‘in between’ the communicator(s) and
their audience(s).
Unfortunately, this duality and complexity is often lost in pre-emptive
accounts of social identification processes in organizations which focus on
either internal or external definitions of the self, on the impact of macro
discourses and institutions, on social actors accommodating to particular
‘subject positions’ or on the subjects’ own strategies of ‘self’-construction. In
3 9 5
Human Relations
DOI: 10.1177/0018726707078244
Volume 60(2): 395–397
Copyright © 2007
The Tavistock Institute ®
SAGE Publications
Los Angeles, London,
New Delhi, Singapore
www.sagepublications.com

2. consequence, identity does not fully live up to its promise as a mediating
concept. However, by adopting a focus on varieties of organizational
discourse – for example, professional rhetorics, management discourses,
everyday talk or shopfloor narratives – we may have access to a more up-
close and in-depth view of the intricacies which inform the processes of
identity construction in organizational settings.
We invite conceptual contributions and papers that draw on in-depth
empirical research which explores the ways in which organizational actors
discursively construct and negotiate personal, professional or organizational
identities. In particular, we invite papers that address alternative or frame-
breaking constructions of identity and focus on the less obvious aspects of
organizing – such as ideology, alterity, exclusion or taboos – and explore
the identifications involved in alternative forms of organizing. In this
respect, we would welcome papers with an idiosyncratic approach to the
potential for multiple, contested, alternative, co-existing and unorthodox
readings of the discursive processes implicated in creating and re-creating
social identification.
Potential topics include the following:
• The tension between aspects of the social and the individual in the
doing of identity work
• Accounts of the contested, competing and contradictory nature of
identity formation(s)
• Situated studies of the everyday enactment of identity and selfhood
• The interplay between personal, professional, organizational, and
institutional identities
• Self narration and imposed identity construction
• Identity and subjectivity
• Social processes of disruption, dislocation and transgression of identity
in the workplace
• The textual production and consumption of identity
• Identity as a problematic, universal or faddish concept in the extant
management literature
• How transient identities are (re-)constituted in changing organizational
relationships
• Identity and the issue of ‘authenticity’ versus ‘impression management’
• Reflexivity and identity-construction
These possible themes should be seen as illustrative rather than exhaustive.
However, in order to be considered for inclusion, papers should offer new
Human Relations 60(2)
3 9 6

3. or innovative accounts of identity and should be informed by a discourse
analytic perspective.
Contributors should note that:
• This call is open and competitive, and the submitted papers will be
blind reviewed in the normal way.
• Submitted papers must be based on original material not under
consideration by any other journal or outlet.
• The editors will select five papers to be included in the special issue,
but other papers submitted in this process may be published in other
issues of the journal.
The deadline for submissions is 15 June 2007. The special issue is intended
for publication in the second half of 2008.
Papers to be considered for this special issue should be submitted online
via www.humanrelationsjournal.org. Please direct questions about the
submission process, or any administrative matter, to Alice Gilbertson at
editorial@humanrelationsjournal.org. The editors of the special issue are
very happy to discuss initial ideas for papers, and can be contacted directly:
Tom Keenoy Sierk Ybema Cliff Oswick
t.keenoy@le.ac.uk sb.ybema@fsw.vu.nl c.oswick@le.ac.uk
Call for papers 3 9 7