Doublethink’

The prevalence and function of contradiction in accounts of organizational life

Bibliographic Data

ID9888781
AuthorsAmal El-Sawad (Business School, Loughborough University), Amal El‐Sawad (Loughborough University, corresponding author), John Arnold (0000-0002-8623-8057, Business School, Loughborough University), Laurie Cohen (0000-0002-5743-6951, Business School, Loughborough University)
Year2004
Volume57
Issue9
Pages1179-1203
Publication date2004-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Relations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0018726704047142
OpenAlexW2103626417
LanguageEN
Citations received24
References cited35

Those engaged in conducting qualitative research frequently acknowledge the presence of contradiction in their data. However, within the organization studies literature little attention is paid to teasing out these contradictions and subjecting them to critical analysis. This article advances our knowledge of contradiction in accounts of organizational life. Drawing on new empirical evidence from a qualitative interview study of employees working in a large blue-chip corporation, we critically assess a number of instances of contradiction or ‘doublethink’ within this particular organizational setting. We challenge the assumption underpinning much of the existing literature that individuals are uncomfortable with contradiction and seek to resolve it whenever it arises. We argue that doublethink provides a means of containing contradiction such that it is neither acknowledged as contradiction nor experienced as uncomfortable. We consider the findings in relation to notions of role positions which reflect/constitute different ways of ordering an individual’s experience, the mobilization of an overarching idiom to ‘contain’ the contradiction, and the privileging of practice over reflexivity

Contradiction · Empirical evidence · Empirical research · Epistemology · Function (biology · Qualitative research · Reflexivity · Relation (database · Social science · Sociology · Underpinning · Computer Science · Cultural Differences and Values · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior · Management and Organizational Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology