Rituals and Resistance

Membership Dynamics in Professional Fields

Bibliographic Data

ID9890374
AuthorsT B Lawrence (0000-0002-8342-6730, Simon Fraser University, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume57
Issue2
Pages115-143
Publication date2004-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Relations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0018726704042924
OpenAlexW2159153452
LanguageEN
Citations received18
References cited45

In this article, the concept of membership is examined from an institutional perspective, focusing on the dynamics of membership in professional fields. It is argued that membership in professional fields is a product of interaction rituals that structure the boundaries of fields, work to distribute power differentially within fields, and consequently engender strategies of resistance on the part of those not privileged by existing conditions. This framework motivates an empirical examination of Canadian public accountants’ membership strategies in the emerging field of environmental audit. Based on this study, a three-part typology of membership strategies in professional fields is proposed: association, stratification, colonization, each of which effects particular sets of interaction rituals, transforms subject positions in the professional field, and depends on specific sets of conditions

Audit · Business · Dynamics (music · Field (mathematics · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Power (physics · Product (mathematics · Public relations · Resistance (ecology · Sociology · Typology · Accounting · Accounting and Organizational Management · Computer Science · Management and Organizational Studies · Mathematics · Psychology · Public Policy and Administration Research · Social Psychology

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