‘We’re All Sinners Here’: A Microhistorical Exploration of the Deviance-Identification Nexus
Abstract
Extant research shows that deviance as a departure from established norms is influential to innovation and change. However, challenging the embedded assumptions and practices renders deviance subject to heavy stigmatization, compelling the identification of deviance to ensure that deviance can be balanced or controlled for the good of the organization. Yet, this focus often ignores the dynamics between the deviants and their audiences, which also impacts the spread of deviance, since deviance is best understood through actions as well as responses. Because deviance is likely to provoke deep introspection, identification with deviance is an essential, yet underexplored aspect of its spread. This article takes a micro-historical approach to analyze Dogme95, a highly controversial filmmaking movement, where identification with deviance influenced its spread. It elucidates symbolic disruption, straddling identification, and limiting the duration as three stages through which deviance can spread in and around organizations through identification. The article thus contributes to the extant literature by reconciling some theoretical contradictions regarding the spread of deviance despite its negative connotations and provides a novel perspective on the deviance-identification nexus.
Downloads
References
Adorisio, A. L. M. (2014). Organizational remembering as narrative: ‘Storying’ the past in banking. Organization, 21(4), 463–476. doi: 10.1177/1350508414527248
Ashforth, B. E., Harrison, S. H., & Corley, K. G. (2008). Identification in organizations: An examination of four fundamental questions. Journal of Management, 34(3), 325–374. doi: 10.1177/0149206308316059
Baba, S., Hemissi, O., & Hafsi, T. (2021). National identity and organizational identity in Algeria: Interactions and influences. M@n@gement, 24(2), 66–85. doi: 10.37725/mgmt.v24.7809
Becker, H. S. (1973). Outsiders: Studies in the sociology of deviance. The Free Press.
Belmi, P., Barragan, R. C., Neale, M. A., & Cohen, G. L. (2015). Threats to social identity can trigger social deviance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(4), 467–484. doi: 10.1177/0146167215569493
Berg, J. M. (2016). Balancing on the creative highwire: Forecasting the success of novel ideas in organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 61(3), 433–468. doi: 10.1177/0001839216642211
Blanton, H., & Christie, C. (2003). Deviance regulation: A theory of action and identity. Review of General Psychology, 7(2), 115–149. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.7.2.115
Bordia, P., Restubog, S. L. D., & Tang, R. L. (2008). When employees strike back: Investigating mediating mechanisms between psychological contract breach and workplace deviance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(5), 1104–1117. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.93.5.1104
Brown, A. D., & Starkey, K. (2000). Organizational identity and learning: A psychodynamic perspective. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 102–120. doi: 10.2307/259265
Bureau, S. (2013). L’entrepreneuriat comme activité subversive: Comment détruire dans le processus de destruction créatrice? M@n@gement, 16(3), 204–237. doi: 10.3917/mana.163.0204
Byrkjeflot, H., Pedersen, J. S., & Svejenova, S. (2013). From label to practice: The process of creating New Nordic Cuisine. Journal of Culinary Science and Technology, 11(1), 36–55. doi: 10.1080/15428052.2013.754296
Chattopadhyay, P., Tluchowska, M., & George, E. (2004). Identifying the ingroup: A closer look at the influence of demographic dissimilarity on employee social identity. Academy of Management Review, 29(2), 180–202. doi: 10.2307/20159028
Cropanzano, R., Anthony, E. L., Daniels, S. R., & Hall, A. V. (2017). Social exchange theory: A critical review with theoretical remedies. Academy of Management Annals, 11(1), 479–516. doi: 10.5465/annals.2015.0099
Crowley, J. E. (2008). On the cusp of a movement: Identity work and social movement identification processes within fathers’ rights groups. Sociological Spectrum, 28(6), 705–724. doi: 10.1080/02732170802342974
Debenedetti, S., & Perret, V. (2022). In Mondovino Veritas? Politics of the documentary film for critical management research. M@n@gement, 25(1), 1–14. doi: 10.37725/mgmt.v25.4545
Dechamp, G., & Szostak, B. (2016). Organisational creativity and the creative territory: The nature of influence and strategic challenges for organisations. M@n@gement, 19(2), 61–88. doi: 10.3917/mana.192.0061
Ferris, D. L., Spence, J. R., Brown, D. J., & Heller, D. (2012). Interpersonal injustice and workplace deviance: The role of esteem threat. Journal of Management, 38(6), 1788–1811. doi: 10.1177/0149206310372259
Galois-Faurie, I., Barros, M., & Grima, F. (2021). Of ‘spectres’ and ‘ghosts’: Transitional and contradictory identifications with the founder’s spirit. M@n@gement, 25(3), 1–21. doi: 10.37725/mgmt.v25.4525
Grodal, S., Anteby, M., & Holm, A. L. (2021). Achieving rigor in qualitative analysis: The role of active categorization in theory building. Academy of Management Review, 46(3), 591–612. doi: 10.5465/amr.2018.0482
Hampel, C. E., & Tracey, P. (2017). How organizations move from stigma to legitimacy: The case of Cook’s travel agency in Victorian Britain. Academy of Management Journal, 60(6), 2175–2207. doi: 10.5465/amj.2015.0365
Hargadon, A. (2016). From what happened to what happens: Using microhistorical case studies to build grounded theory in organization studies. In K. D. Elsbach & R. M. Kramer (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative organizational research: Innovative pathways and methods (pp. 122–133). Routledge.
Hargadon, A. B., & Wadhwani, R. D. (2023). Theorizing with microhistory. Academy of Management Review, 48(4), 681–696. doi: 10.5465/amr.2019.0176
Hay, G. J., Parker, S. K., & Luksyte, A. (2021). Making sense of organisational change failure: An identity lens. Human Relations, 74(2), 180–207. doi: 10.1177/0018726720906211
Helms, W. S., & Patterson, K. D. W. (2014). Eliciting acceptance for “illicit” organizations: The positive implications of stigma for MMA organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 57(5), 1453–1484. doi: 10.5465/amj.2012.0088
Heracleous, L., & Bartunek, J. (2021). Organization change failure, deep structures and temporality: Appreciating Wonderland. Human Relations, 74(2), 208–233. doi: 10.1177/0018726720905361
Howard-Grenville, J., Metzger, M. L., & Meyer, A. D. (2013). Rekindling the flame: Processes of identity resurrection. Academy of Management Journal, 56(1), 113–136. doi: 10.5465/amj.2010.0778
Jones, C., Svejenova, S., Pedersen, J. S., & Townley, B. (2016). Misfits, mavericks and mainstreams: Drivers of innovation in creative industries. Organization Studies, 37(6), 751–768. doi: 10.1177/0170840616647671
Kennedy, M. T. (2008). Getting counted: Markets, media, and reality. American Sociological Review, 73(2), 270–295. doi: 10.1177/000312240807300205
Khaire, M., & Wadhwani, R. D. (2010). Changing landscapes: The construction of meaning and value in a new market category—modern Indian art. Academy of Management Journal, 53(6), 1281–1304. doi: 10.5465/amj.2010.57317861
Lawrence, T. B., & Robinson, S. L. (2007). Ain’t Misbehaving: Workplace deviance as organizational resistance. Journal of Management, 33(3), 378–394. doi: 10.1177/0149206307300816
Leigh, A., & Melwani, S. (2019). #Blackemployeesmatter: Mega-threats, identity fusion, and enacting positive deviance in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 44(3), 564–591. doi: 10.5465/amr.2017.0127
Lin, B., Mainemelis, C., & Kark, R. (2016). Leaders’ responses to creative deviance: Differential effects on subsequent creative deviance and creative performance. Leadership Quarterly, 27(4), 537–556. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.09.001
Lindblom, J., & Jacobsson, K. (2014). A deviance perspective on social movements: The case of animal rights activism. Deviant Behavior, 35(2), 133–151. doi: 10.1080/01639625.2013.834751
Linstead, S., Maréchal, G., & Griffin, R. W. (2014). Theorizing and researching the dark side of organization. Organization Studies, 35(2), 165–188. doi: 10.1177/0170840613515402
Maclean, M., Harvey, C., & Clegg, S. R. (2016). Conceptualizing historical organization studies. Academy of Management Review, 41(4), 609–632. doi: 10.5465/amr.2014.0133
Magnússon, S. G., & Szijártó, I. M. (2013). What is microhistory?: Theory and practice. Routledge.
Maguire, S., & Hardy, C. (2009). Discourse and deinstitutionalization: The decline of DDT. Academy of Management Journal, 52(1), 148–178. doi: 10.5465/amj.2009.36461993
Mainemelis, C. (2010). Stealing fire: Creative deviance in the evolution of new ideas. Academy of Management Review, 35(4), 558–578. doi: 10.5465/amr.35.4.zok558
McKirnan, D. J. (1980). The identification of deviance: A conceptualization and initial test of a model of social norms. European Journal of Social Psychology, 10(1), 75–93. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2420100106
Michel, S., & Ben-Slimane, K. (2021). The interplay between internal and external identity work when institutional change threatens the collective identity: The case of a wholesaler faced with the rise of central purchasing. M@n@gement, 24(3), 1–18. doi: 10.37725/mgmt.v24.4535
Narayanan, K., & Murphy, S. E. (2017). Conceptual framework on workplace deviance behavior: A review. Journal of Human Values, 23(3), 218–233. doi: 10.1177/0971685817713284
Negro, G., Hannan, M. T., & Rao, H. (2010). Categorical contrast and audience appeal: Niche width and critical success in winemaking. Industrial and Corporate Change, 19(5), 1397–1425. doi: 10.1093/icc/dtq003
Ouriemmi, O., Khaled, W. B., & Fanchini, M. (2021). Whistleblowers or offenders? A judicial approach to whistleblowing—The LuxLeaks case. M@n@gement, 24(4), 1–17. doi: 10.37725/mgmt.v24.5449
Popp, A., & Holt, R. (2013). The presence of entrepreneurial opportunity. Business History, 55(1), 9–28. doi: 10.1080/00076791.2012.687539
Pratt, M. G., Foreman, P. O., Scott, S. G., Lane, V. R., Gioia, D. A., Schultz, M., Corley, K. G., Brickson, S., Brown, A. D., Starkey, K., Hogg, M. A., & Terry, D. J. (2000). Identity dialogues. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 141–152. doi: 10.2307/259267
Rao, H., & Giorgi, S. (2006). Code breaking: How entrepreneurs exploit cultural logics to generate institutional change. Research in Organizational Behavior, 27, 269–304. doi: 10.1016/S0191-3085(06)27007-2
Rao, H., Monin, P., & Durand, R. (2003). Institutional change in Toque Ville: Nouvelle cuisine as an identity movement in French gastronomy. American Journal of Sociology, 108(4), 795–843. doi: 10.1086/367917
Raskin, R. (2000). Introduction. In R. Raskin (Ed.), p.o.v. A Danish Journal of Film Studies (p. 194). Department of Information and Media Studies University of Aarhus.
Ruebottom, T., Buchanan, S., Voronov, M., & Toubiana, M. (2022). Commercializing the practice of voyeurism: How organizations leverage authenticity and transgression to create value. Academy of Management Review, 47(3), 466–488. doi: 10.5465/amr.2019.0210
Simons, J. (2005). Playing the waves: The name of the game is Dogme95. In M. De Valck & M. Hagener (Eds.), Cinephilia: Movies, love and memory (pp. 181–196). Amsterdam University Press.
Spreitzer, G. M., & Sonenshein, S. (2004). Toward the construct definition of positive deviance. American Behavioral Scientist, 47(6), 828–847. doi: 10.1177/0002764203260
Suddaby, R. (2016). Toward a historical consciousness: Following the historic turn in management thought. M@n@gement, 19(1), 46–60. doi: 10.3917/mana.191.0046
Vaara, E., & Lamberg, J. A. (2016). Taking historical embeddedness seriously: Three historical approaches to advance strategy process and practice research. Academy of Management Review, 41(4), 633–657. doi: 10.5465/amr.2014.0172
Vaughan, D. (1999). The dark side of organizations: Mistake, misconduct, and disaster. Annual Review of Sociology, 25, 271–305. doi: 10.1146/annurev.soc.25.1.271
Van Grinsven, M., Sturdy, A., & Heusinkveld, S. (2020). Identities in translation: Management concepts as means and outcomes of identity work. Organization Studies, 41(6), 873–897. doi: 10.1177/0170840619866490
Van Iterson, A., Clegg, S., & Carlsen, A. (2017). Ideas are feelings first: Epiphanies in everyday workplace creativity. M@n@gement, 20(3), 221–238. doi: 10.3917/mana.203.0221
Warren, D. E. (2003). Constructive and destructive deviance in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 28(4), 622–632. doi: 10.2307/30040751
Wry, T., Lounsbury, M., & Glynn, M. A. (2011). Legitimating nascent collective identities: Coordinating cultural entrepreneurship. Organization Science, 22(2), 449–463. doi: 10.1287/orsc.1100.0613
Zhao, E. Y., Ishihara, M., & Lounsbury, M. (2013). Overcoming the illegitimacy discount: Cultural entrepreneurship in the US feature film industry. Organization Studies, 34(12), 1747–1776. doi: 10.1177/0170840613485844
Copyright (c) 2024 Yasaman Sadeghi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright of their work, with first publication rights granted to the AIMS.