Beyond dis-identification: A discursive approach to self-alienation in contemporary organizations

Dis-identification is now an important research area in organization studies investigating how employees subjectively distance themselves from managerial domination by constructing identities considered more `authentic'. But how should we understand situations where actors become aware that their putative`real' selves are paradoxically unreal and foreign? We draw inspiration from the concept of self-alienation to explain experiences beyond dis-identification, where actors perceive the truth of themselves (`who I really am') as alien. An empirical study of a global management consultancy firm demonstrates how a discursive and non-essentialist understanding of self-alienation might usefully capture this experience of identity. Three causes of self-alienation are proposed and we discuss their significance in relation to identity and authenticity in contemporary organizations.