Identity

Question 1

Goffman (1959)

Answer 1

Work as a performance

• front vs back stage
• impression management
• dramaturgical metaphor

Question 2

Judith Butler

Answer 2

Gender Performativity
Gender identity is not biological but repeatedly performing until it becomes treated as if it reflects one’s nature.
- discursive power (Foucault, 1977)

Question 3

Braverman (1974)

Answer 3

Deskilling thesis: increased specialization and division of labour extends control over workers and affects sense of self

Question 4

James (2007)

Answer 4

Affluenza virus - symptoms

• insecurity
• alienation
• feeling incompetent
• inauthenticity

‘selfish capitalism’ + ‘having mode’ + ‘marketing characters’ = Affluenza virus epidemic

Question 5

Sennett (1988)

Answer 5

Corrosion of character
- societal changes lead to corrosion:
Short contracts, requirement to take risks, lack of community at work, individualism, erosion of commitment, trust and loyalty

Question 6

Hughes (1951)

Answer 6

A man’s work is one of the areas by which he is judged and by which he judges himself
- Dirty work: stigma, ‘invisibleness’, taint

Question 7

Tajfel and Turner

Answer 7

We seek to maximize difference between our in-group and others (out-groups) in positive terms

Question 8

Ashforth and Kreiner (1999)

Answer 8

Coping with ‘dirty work’

• ideological reframing
• …recalibrating
• …refocusing

Question 9

Ashforth et al. (2007)

Answer 9

Managers neutralize ‘taint’ by countering or rendering it salient:

• occupational ideologies
• social buffers
• confronting clients and the public
• defensive tactics

Question 10

Paul du Gay (1996)

Answer 10

Need to be ‘entrepreneurs’ of the self:

• People have multiple jobs; require reinvention
• Self-actualization (Maslow), pressure to be high achieving

Question 11

Fromm (1979)

Answer 11

‘Having mode’ - breeds competition and conflict based on acquisitiveness