Abstract
Australian workplaces are increasingly becoming culturally diverse. As a space of involuntary encounter of racial difference, multicultural workplaces are significant sites for understanding how workers deal with cultural difference. Involuntary cross-cultural encounters are a facet of living with cultural difference which can produce discomfort, tension and conflict in the workplace. The study of workplace social relations has traditionally focused on practices of racial discrimination. In this paper, we shift the focus to examine different modes of negative inter-ethnic interactions at work through the lens of discomfort. It suggests that analysing tension and conflict arising in multicultural workplaces as racially motivated or simply racist fails to capture other factors that adversely affect inter-ethnic interaction. This paper presents findings from a research into workplace interaction in the Australian employment services providers to emphasise that changing work conditions and increasing cultural diversity have profound impact on the workers’ experiences of workplace relations.
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 779-794 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Social Identities |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Early online date | 23 May 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Nov 2018 |
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Keywords
- everyday racism
- inter-ethnic relations
- multiculturalism
- workplace relations
Cite this
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Everyday inter-ethnic tensions and discomfort in a culturally diverse Australian workplace. / Nguyen, Tran; Velayutham, Selvaraj.
In: Social Identities, Vol. 24, No. 6, 02.11.2018, p. 779-794.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Everyday inter-ethnic tensions and discomfort in a culturally diverse Australian workplace
AU - Nguyen, Tran
AU - Velayutham, Selvaraj
PY - 2018/11/2
Y1 - 2018/11/2
N2 - Australian workplaces are increasingly becoming culturally diverse. As a space of involuntary encounter of racial difference, multicultural workplaces are significant sites for understanding how workers deal with cultural difference. Involuntary cross-cultural encounters are a facet of living with cultural difference which can produce discomfort, tension and conflict in the workplace. The study of workplace social relations has traditionally focused on practices of racial discrimination. In this paper, we shift the focus to examine different modes of negative inter-ethnic interactions at work through the lens of discomfort. It suggests that analysing tension and conflict arising in multicultural workplaces as racially motivated or simply racist fails to capture other factors that adversely affect inter-ethnic interaction. This paper presents findings from a research into workplace interaction in the Australian employment services providers to emphasise that changing work conditions and increasing cultural diversity have profound impact on the workers’ experiences of workplace relations.
AB - Australian workplaces are increasingly becoming culturally diverse. As a space of involuntary encounter of racial difference, multicultural workplaces are significant sites for understanding how workers deal with cultural difference. Involuntary cross-cultural encounters are a facet of living with cultural difference which can produce discomfort, tension and conflict in the workplace. The study of workplace social relations has traditionally focused on practices of racial discrimination. In this paper, we shift the focus to examine different modes of negative inter-ethnic interactions at work through the lens of discomfort. It suggests that analysing tension and conflict arising in multicultural workplaces as racially motivated or simply racist fails to capture other factors that adversely affect inter-ethnic interaction. This paper presents findings from a research into workplace interaction in the Australian employment services providers to emphasise that changing work conditions and increasing cultural diversity have profound impact on the workers’ experiences of workplace relations.
KW - everyday racism
KW - inter-ethnic relations
KW - multiculturalism
KW - workplace relations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85019565785&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13504630.2017.1329655
DO - 10.1080/13504630.2017.1329655
M3 - Article
VL - 24
SP - 779
EP - 794
JO - Social Identities
T2 - Social Identities
JF - Social Identities
SN - 1350-4630
IS - 6
ER -