Abstract
The enormous social, economic and political transformation South Africans have experienced especially over the past 12 years, since the systematic dismantling of apartheid in the era of social and economic reconstruction, has brought about numerous societal and social identity changes. Due to these changes in social identity, societal norms and power shifts, major changes are occurring in the workplace, and societal level identity crises and conflicts are increasingly spilling over into the workplace. This article unpacks these social identity changes and power shifts on the political, social, economic and management levels, by employing social identity theory, self-categorisation theory and embedded intergroup theory, and highlights some resultant workplace implications.
Highlights
social identity theory (SIT) and categorisation of the self have been shown to be relevant to explanations of: i) a change in self-conceptualisation and the basis of perception of others in the group, ii) in-group favouritism and bias and out-group derogation and prejudice, and resultant social identity conflict, iii) the relative status or dominance of a group, iv) the salience of primary and secondary identities, and the spillover of social identities into the workplace, v) how individual behaviour can change in tandem with group membership, and vi) how individuals adapt to larger societal changes and changes in social group relativities and status, in other words, how individuals and social groups adapt to changing social realities during times of social identity crisis
There are many categories of social identity and different social identity conflicts, the focus of this study is on changes and conflicts associated with race and gender, since these are the most pressing and intractable of the conflicts present in South African organisations (Ngambi, 2002; Booysen & Nkomo, 2005; Booysen, 2006; Cilliers & Smith, 2006,)
Since this study focuses on the workplace, the implications of the power shifts and their impact on social identities, the emphasis will be on shifts in managerial power
Summary
In times of profound societal change and transformation, and in unstable societies where group boundaries and experiences frequently alter, changes occur in how individuals perceive their group membership and how they assign themselves to specific social categories (Korostelina, 2003; Malanchuk, 2005). This phenomenon, where social identities are in flux and generalised categories are not yet redefined, can be called a crisis of identity (Ivanova, 2005; Bornman, 1999). In times of profound societal change and transformation, and in unstable societies where group boundaries and experiences frequently alter, changes occur in how individuals perceive their group membership and how they assign themselves to specific social categories (Korostelina, 2003; Malanchuk, 2005).. In times of profound societal change and transformation, and in unstable societies where group boundaries and experiences frequently alter, changes occur in how individuals perceive their group membership and how they assign themselves to specific social categories (Korostelina, 2003; Malanchuk, 2005).1 This phenomenon, where social identities are in flux and generalised categories are not yet redefined, can be called a crisis of identity (Ivanova, 2005; Bornman, 1999). As a consequence of this social identity crisis, social identity and social self-awareness contradictions arise, both in individuals and in generations (Bornman, 1999; Gouws, 2005; Wasserman, 2005; Booysen, 2006)
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