The sonic side of organizing: theorizing acoustemology for blind and visually impaired people's inclusion in the workplace

Abstract

ABSTRACT Drawing on ethnography, this study investigates the treatment of blind and visually impaired people (BVIP) in the workplace adopting a sociomaterial framework based on acoustemology. This approach concerns the process of knowing with and through sound. In line with interest in multimodality within organization studies, acoustemology recognizes the auditory as a way to access systems of meanings, negotiations, co-constructions, discrimination and culture within organizations. Considering visual impairment as a culture, this research explores the way in which sound and sonic technologies act as relational (both social and material) channels through which BVIP conduct themselves in the workplace, interact with sighted co-workers, gain recognition and produce and reproduce a system of meanings. Through acoustemology, this study contributes to the issue of organizational inclusion of people with disability proposing dis-continuity, a concept that helps explore inclusion as a practice that involves alternative epistemologies and brings about changes in organizational culture.