Roles and identity work in “at-home” ethnography
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on carrying out “at-home” ethnography by building and extending the notion of roles as boundary objects, and to elucidate how evolving roles mediate professional identity work of the ethnographer.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to theorize about how professional identities and identity work play out in “at-home” ethnography, the study builds on the notion of roles as boundary objects constructed in interaction between knowledge domains. The study is based on two ethnographic research projects carried out by high-level career switchers – corporate executives who conducted research in their own organizations and eventually left to work in academia.
Findings
The paper contends that the interaction between the corporate world and academia gives rise to specific yet intertwined roles; and that the meanings attached to these roles and role transitions shape the way ethnographers work on their professional identities.
Research limitations/implications
These findings have implications for organizational ethnography where the researcher’s identity work should receive more attention in relation to fieldwork, headwork, and textwork.
Originality/value
The study builds on and extends the notion of roles as boundary objects and as triggers of identity work in the context of “at-home” ethnographic research work, and sheds light on the way researchers continuously contest and renegotiate meanings for both domains, and move from one role to another while doing so.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 32nd EGOS Colloquim in Naples, Italy, July 7-9, 2016. The authors would like to thank the participants in the sub-theme “The Power of Organizational Ethnography” and particularly Juliette Koning, Jana Costas, and Hertta Vuorenmaa for their constructive comments. The authors would also like to acknowledge Michel Anteby’s contribution in guiding us to the roots of “at-home” ethnography.
Citation
Järventie-Thesleff, R., Logemann, M., Piekkari, R. and Tienari, J. (2016), "Roles and identity work in “at-home” ethnography", Journal of Organizational Ethnography, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 235-257. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOE-07-2016-0015
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited