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This chapter addresses the question of why some people may be more successful than others at creating an alternative identity in the course of a career change. Taking a narrative perspective, the author draws particular attention to a variety of transition narratives which function as legitimizing resources for people to distance themselves from previous self-concepts, while at the same time allowing them to experiment with new sources of meaning and to create alternative identities. The analysis, of how former management consultants narrated the story of their career shift, focuses on four particular transition narratives(re-invention, alteration, re-enactment and stagnation) which help to account for some of the variation observed in career change experiences. The analysis also reveals a good indicator of how successful speakers will be in achieving alternative identity constructions in a new work environment: the radicalness of the career change and the contextual resources those speakers can call on to tell more or less compelling transition narratives. Thus we see that choices around a career change are dynamic and relational, as they are socially constructed in dialogue with others.

In lieu of an abstract, here a brief extract from the introduction: ... in this chapter I ask how individuals targeted by the discourse of entrepreneurship either identify with or resist it. This question is investigated in the realm of development aid, a context in which discussions of entrepreneurship and business savvy have acquired increasing prominence over the last decades. Rendering non-governmental organizations (NGOs) the focal attention of this chapter seems timely in view of how these organizations have stirred controversy with regard to their effectiveness and legitimacy (notably in the realm of development aid), which was followed by suggestions to align them more closely with the principles and values of the private sector. Further, investigating the extent to which the normative desideratum of ‘entrepreneurship’ is received by development NGO practitioners bears critical currency in the way it exposes possible limits and dangers associated with this discourse (Ainsworth and Hardy, 2008). However, unlike forms of critique which aspire to challenge the discourse of entrepreneurship from a position of exteriority, for example from the transcendental vantage point of moral philosophy, the present critique is conducted from within the coordinates of the entrepreneurship discourse. Framing it as an ‘immanent critique’ (from Latin immanere, ‘to dwell in, remain in’), I subject the discourse of entrepreneurship to critical scrutiny not via universal judgment of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ but by attending to the viewpoints of those being addressed or ‘hailed’ as entrepreneurs.

In lieu of an abstract, here a brief extract from the introduction: In recent years, researchers in management and organization studies have devoted considerable attention to discursive research, so it is hardly controversial to claim that discourse analysis is one of the field’s most popular research methodologies. At the risk of simplifying, a key assumption underlying much of the available literature is that discourse analysis is primarily an excellent tool for producing knowledge (Heracleous, 2006) and more generally an analytic mentality (Phillips and Hardy, 2002). This interpretation is noteworthy as it consigns discourse analysis to its epistemological function. Although we agree that discourse analysis is inextricably connected to questions of epistemology (knowledge), in this chapter we seek to transcend this position by demonstrating that it can also be used productively as a means of intervention. Conflating the epistemological and interventionist trajectories of discourse analysis, we build on prior work that conceives of ‘method’ and ‘research’ quite generally as a means for enacting and changing reality instead of ‘only’ representing or interpreting it (Law, 2004; Steyaert, 2011). Following this vein of thinking, we tenta- tively outline the interventionist potential of discourse analysis against the backdrop of organizational changing. Thereby, drawing on Tsoukas (2005), we define organizational changing as the process through which multiple discursive practices unfold, allowing members of organizations to give meaning to the organizational reality of which they are part. Using this approach, and analysing a consultancy project in a large German voluntary organization, we reveal how discourse analysis can be used to intervene in discursive practices that are characterized by tensions and struggle. To this end, we pinpoint how the results from one such analysis were used to break up a contracted conflict via two interrelated steps. First, discursive spaces were created that offered members of the organization an opportunity to vent their frustration and to create awareness of the antagonistic discursive practices that triggered the tensions and conflict. Second, generative dialogue allowed them to foster more affirmative re-interpretations of organizational changing.

This lively guide showcasing original and carefully curated research illustrates the dynamic relationship between discourse and organizational psychology. It maps the origins and development of discursive approaches in the field of organizational psychology and provides a timely review of the challenges that may confront researchers in the years to come, thereby charting the current and future boundaries of the field. A Guide to Discursive Organizational Psychology delineates a potential research agenda for discursive organizational psychology. Contributions include empirically rich discussions of both traditional and widely studied topics such as resistance to change, inclusion and exclusion, participation, multi-stakeholder collaboration and diversity management, as well as newer research topics such as language negotiations, work time arrangements, technology development and discourse analysis as intervention. Discursive devices for addressing these phenomena include interpretative repertoires, modes of ordering, rhetorical strategies and sense-making narratives. This topical book will serve as a guide for students or researchers who are new to discourse analysis in the fields of psychology, organization and management studies, and provide new perspective to anyone seeking to enhance their conceptual and methodological understanding of these fields. It marks a central reference point for anyone interested in the intersection of discursive approaches and organizational psychological phenomena.