Our Club

Place-Work and the Negotiation of Collective Belongingness

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2365335
AutoresThomas R Hochschild (University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA,, autor de correspondencia)
Año2010
Volumen39
Número6
Páginas619-645
Fecha de publicación2010-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Contemporary Ethnography (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0891-2416 • E-ISSN: 1552-5414
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0891241610378857
OpenAlexW2145951636
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas32

This research examines the process by which vying social groups negotiate collective belongingness within contested space. At an American Legion veterans' post, two factions-the Skeet Club and the New Regime-developed strong emotional attachments to the location. The Skeet Club consisted of ineligible townspeople who had illegally gained access to the post through the help of several legitimate members. For Skeet Club members, the post was a beloved social club where strong social bonds had developed over the course of many years. For the New Regime, the post was first and foremost a shrine to honor and assist military veterans. These divergent interpretations resulted in a process the author calls place-work, whereby members of the two factions struggled to establish a definition of the location that would allow their respective groups to feel that "we belong." The four place-work strategies observed include (1) the presentation of group value, (2) deference to organizational culture, (3) spatial control, and (4) out-group intimidation. Through these strategies, "collective belongingness" was constructed, presented, and maintained as a resource in intergroup conflict. This study builds on the literatures regarding place, emotion, and intergroup conflict

Belongingness · Club · Deference · Negotiation · Political science · Public relations · Social science · Sociology · Emotional Labor in Professions · Management and Organizational Studies · Place Attachment and Urban Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology