Pleading the Fifth: re-focusing Acker's gendered substructure through the lens of organizational logic

Abstract

In this paper we argue that the (widely recognized) heuristic value of Joan Acker’s “gendered substructure” has not been realized due to inconsistencies in its interpretation and application. Through an exploration of the roots of Acker’s framework and its application to a case study of a single organization over time (Pan American World Airways), we contend that its greatest potential lies in examining the four process sets – division of labour, workplace culture, social interactions and (self) reflection – through a fifth process of organizational logic’ that is seen as temporal and contextual. Drawing on poststructuralist feminist theory, we argue that organizational logic can be viewed through analyses of organizational, and rganizationally based, discourses.