Between the secret and the discreet: organizational communication for the management of the Freemasonry (in) visibility

Abstract

Abstract The present study discusses communication strategies and practices of organizations in the context of managing their levels of (in)visibility in the current sociotechnical landscape. In this sense, the aim is to understand how Freemasonry – historically known for its secretive nature – interprets the current hegemonic regime of expanded visibility and manages (in)visibility in its organizational communication processes. To achieve this, the assumptions of symbolic interactionism (Mead, 1982; Blumer, 1980) and theoretical contributions from organizational communication (Baldissera, 2009; 2017) and the notion of secrecy (Simmel, 1999; Despret, 2011) are used as the theoretical foundation. Methodologically, secondary data is extracted from a study conducted by Vinhola (2021), analyzed through the lens of Goffman’s stage/backstage metaphor (2002), along with the organizational communication dimensions proposed by Baldissera (2009). Through diagrams, the study highlights different strategies and operations of (in)visibility (defensive, offensive, counterattack, and veiled infiltration) employed by Freemasonry in heterogeneous interactional devices. The main inference is that the management of Freemasonry’s (in)visibility is grounded in a specific organizational logic, defined here as discreet communication.