Identity, Compliance and Dissent in Organizations: A Psychoanalytic Perspective

Abstract

Much of the literature in organization theory has yielded an image of the individual which could be called `skilfully partial'. The viewpoints talk `about' human agency without having a view `of' human agency, turning what is a `process' into an `object'. Other viewpoints raise the same dichotomy, without an underlying theoretic about the dynamic between the two. An example of this difficulty is apparent in the literature that seeks to address the issues of compliance and dissent in organizations. There is little in the way of explanation of the psychodynamics that are involved. This paper puts forward an explanation of compliance and dissent in organizations and explains how these issues are very much intertwined with the dynamic processes involved in the construction of individual identity. This explanation recognizes the importance of individual experiential histories, including those that are specifically institutionally fashioned, such as gender and the primacy of work. Drawing upon psychoanalytic theory (with some of its Frankfurt School and other variants), an essential lens is provided through which the issues of compliance and dissent can be readily viewed and understood. Results from recent studies are used to illustrate this different perspective, and the psychodynamics that are put forward are discussed in terms of further implications for the field.