Following traces: an organizational ethnography in the midst of trauma Journal Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • ; Purpose; The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it brings forth a methodology of “traces” for organizational ethnography of the shadow, also understood as the realm of the repressed. Second, it highlights the emotional disconnect that organizational ethnographers encounter in traumatized communities and provides suggestions to bridge them.; ; ; Design/methodology/approach; The paper – drawing on autoethnography – incorporates the author’s fieldwork experiences conducted with market women in postconflict Monrovia, Liberia. In the tradition of “confessional tales,” it includes vignettes from fieldnotes and in-depth qualitative interviews.; ; ; Findings; The paper highlights three types of traces for research on the shadow: memorial, interactional, and material.; ; ; Research limitations/implications; The paper is important because it provides a methodology to recover information pertaining to the organizational shadow, where silence, absence, and suppression dominate. It extends existing literature focused on visuality to consider alternative and holistic epistemologies in line with African worldviews.; ; ; Practical implications; This paper will help practitioners working with traumatized communities as it suggests the use of memory as a more indirect route to recover information rather than direct questioning.; ; ; Originality/value; The paper juxtaposes poignant stories with academic prose and is valuable in terms of content and form. First, it addresses the topics of emotion and discomfort, seldom incorporated in organization studies. Second, it is valuable to scholars wishing to experiment with more intuitive forms of writing.;

publication date

  • November 14, 2016

has restriction

  • closed

Date in CU Experts

  • January 30, 2017 10:28 AM

Full Author List

  • Cruz J

author count

  • 1

Other Profiles

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1746-5648

Additional Document Info

start page

  • 214

end page

  • 231

volume

  • 11

issue

  • 4