Dishing the dirt: Gossiping in organizations

Clegg, SR; van Iterson, A

Dishing the dirt: Gossiping in organizations

Clegg, SR

van Iterson, A

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Culture and Organization, 2009, 15 (3-4), pp. 275 - 289
Issue Date:: 2009-09-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Clegg, SR https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6083-4283	en_US
dc.contributor.author	van Iterson, A	en_US
dc.date.issued	2009-09-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Culture and Organization, 2009, 15 (3-4), pp. 275 - 289	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1475-9551	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/10673
dc.description.abstract	In an exercise in social theory, rather than an empirical investigation, we concentrate on the role of gossip - spreading 'news about the affairs of another' - in relation to the dynamics of power in organizations. Gossip has often been seen in functional terms, as both positive and negative for the organization. In this paper we challenge this functionalist approach. Gossip can be associated with what Freud called the narcissism of minor differences: the gossipers tend not to be too dissimilar from those gossiped about in terms of proximity. Propinquity may increase the animosity of gossip. We see formal organization as a self-regulating system that constantly refines its boundaries, and gossip is the dirt that trickles in and out of these boundaries, illegitimate, formally disdained and often destructive. The writer who has done most to encourage and clarify thinking about the nature of dirt is Mary Douglas, the anthropologist, especially her notion of expressive pollution. The paper concludes with some implications for ethics in practice viewed through power relations. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Culture and Organization	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/14759550903119293	en_US
dc.title	Dishing the dirt: Gossiping in organizations	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	3-4	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	15	en_US
utslib.for	220102 Business Ethics	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	3-4	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	15	en_US

Abstract:

In an exercise in social theory, rather than an empirical investigation, we concentrate on the role of gossip - spreading 'news about the affairs of another' - in relation to the dynamics of power in organizations. Gossip has often been seen in functional terms, as both positive and negative for the organization. In this paper we challenge this functionalist approach. Gossip can be associated with what Freud called the narcissism of minor differences: the gossipers tend not to be too dissimilar from those gossiped about in terms of proximity. Propinquity may increase the animosity of gossip. We see formal organization as a self-regulating system that constantly refines its boundaries, and gossip is the dirt that trickles in and out of these boundaries, illegitimate, formally disdained and often destructive. The writer who has done most to encourage and clarify thinking about the nature of dirt is Mary Douglas, the anthropologist, especially her notion of expressive pollution. The paper concludes with some implications for ethics in practice viewed through power relations. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/10673