The Role of Social-Symbolic Work in Addressing Grand Challenges: The Case of Women Empowerment

Abstract

This study examines the role of social-symbolic work in addressing grand challenges. To do so, I draw on an in-depth qualitative study of efforts to address the grand challenge of women empowerment in Kuwait. I explore how actors performed different forms and types of social-symbolic work to create a business incubator to empower unemployed women to unleash their entrepreneurial potential. The findings reveal that addressing grand challenges begins with one type of self work that I call “awareness work”, which refers to the efforts of individuals, collective actors, and networks of actors to shape individuals’ perception by raising their awareness of a given phenomenon. The results culminate in a model of social-symbolic work for grand challenges that unpacks the forms and types of social-symbolic work actors performed as well as their combining strategies.