Advertising, avoiding, disrupting, and tabooing: The discursive construction of diversity subjects in the Turkish context

Kornau A., Knappert L., Erdur D.

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, vol.37, no.2, 2021 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 37 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2021
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.scaman.2021.101151
  • Journal Name: SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Business Source Elite, Business Source Premier, Psycinfo
  • Keywords: Diversity, Discourse, Foucault, Diversity subjects, Turkey, MANAGEMENT, DISCOURSES, INCLUSION, EQUALITY, ORGANIZATIONS, DIFFERENCE, GENDER, STRATEGIES, POLITICS, FIELD
  • Bursa Uludag University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This study investigates organizational diversity discourses in Turkey - a non-Western, politically relevant, yet underrepresented context. Using a Foucauldian perspective on power and discourse, we scrutinize how power relations in the Turkish context are (re)produced. Based on our analysis of company websites and semi-structured interviews with various actors (e.g., HR managers), we propose a conceptual framework of the discursive construction of diversity subjects at work along the dimensions of (1) visibility of organizational diversity discourses and (2) contestation of meaning within organizational diversity discourses. The combination of these dimensions yields four discursive dynamics as illustrated in our data (Advertising, Avoiding, Disrupting, Tabooing). This framework may inspire future context-and power-sensitive investigations on diversity discourses at the workplace.