Organizations and Identity (Key Themes in Organizational Communication)

The question “who am I?” represents one of the key challenges of contemporary life in a globalized world. For most of us, organizations play a key role in answering that question.

In this book, Gregory Larson and Rebecca Gill explain how identities are formed, managed, and regulated in our interactions with organizations, and why identity has become so relevant in modern life. Their examination includes frameworks for organizing and understanding identity scholarship, the nature of multiple identities and how these are managed, and the use of identity as a way to control workers.

Organizations and Identity introduces a discursive approach to the topic, highlighting what is unique and consequential about studying identity from a communication perspective. It is essential reading for students and scholars of organizational communication.

Gregory S. Larson is Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Montana.

Rebecca Gill is Senior Lecturer in the School of Management at Massey University.