Spirituality and identity at work

This thesis investigates the relationship between people's notion of 'spirituality' and their identities in relation to their work. It is mainly concerned with identity processes of people who consider themselves 'spiritual' and shape their working lives to accommodate what they portray as the spiritual aspects of their identities. Overall, the literature on 'Spirituality at Work' (SaW) is increasing, but as the phenomenon is new and amorphous there are still many gaps that call for empirical research. Moreover, most of the academic literature on SaW is polarised between the affirmative side arguing for introducing 'Spirituality at Work' and the critical side cautioning against the oppressive potential of 'spirituality' adopted as a management initiative. This research, however, places the emphasis on participants' identity processes within contexts of work, providing insights that can suggest implications about identity construction within the more general phenomenon of 'Spirituality at Work'. Based on the analysis of 16 life stories the research examines participants? identity processes in the context of their whole life stories and within the socio-cultural discourses surrounding them.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Nottingham Trent University

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Tzouramani, E

Language dc:language

en