Power and Discourse in Organization Studies: Absence and the Dialectic of Control
- 1 July 1991
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Discourse & Society
- Vol. 2 (3) , 313-332
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926591002003004
Abstract
This paper argues for a postmodern conception of power in which discourse is conceived as the principal medium through which power relations are maintained and reproduced. Specifically, power is identified as a pervasive characteristic of organizational life which constitutes the identity of organization members. Discourse, as a structured social practice, creates meaning formations rooted in a system of presence and absence which systematically privileges and marginalizes different organizational experiences. By way of exemplification, three organizational texts are subject to a deconstructive analysis in order to explicate the processes through which meaning structures are produced and reproduced organizationally.Keywords
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