Abstract
The concept of (self-)identity has become increasingly central to institutional theory’s microfoundations, yet remains relatively underdeveloped. In this chapter, the authors use an autobiographical interview with a gay Protestant minister in the US to explore the role of narrative conventions in the construction of self-identity. The analysis of this chapter offers the basis for a new understanding of the relation between institutions, self-identity, and agency: how we agentically engage institutions depends not only on who we narrate ourselves to be, but also on how we narrate ourselves into being. This suggests that narration as a specific modality of micro-institutional processes has important performative effects.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Microfoundations of institutions |
| Editors | Patrick Haack, Jost Sieweke, Lauri Wessel |
| Place of Publication | Bingley, UK |
| Publisher | Emerald Publishing |
| Chapter | 4 |
| Pages | 63-83 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Volume | 65B |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781787691278, 9781787691292 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781787691285 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Publication series
| Name | Research in the Sociology of Organizations |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Emerald Publishing |
| Volume | 65B |
| ISSN (Print) | 0733-558X |
Keywords
- Institutional theory
- self-identity
- agency
- narrative
- sensemaking
- GLBT
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Cite this
Lok, J., Creed, W. E. D., & Dejordy, R. (2020). From cruise director to rabbi: Authoring the agentic self through conventions of narrative necessity. In P. Haack, J. Sieweke, & L. Wessel (Eds.), Microfoundations of institutions (Vol. 65B, pp. 63-83). (Research in the Sociology of Organizations; Vol. 65B). Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X2019000065B036