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SPECIAL ISSUE THEME
The literature on social identities, identity work, and identity transitions has experienced rapid growth. However, most studies have been conducted within the context of the Global North (Brown, 2015; Ibarra & Barbelescu, 2010; Kulkarni, 2020). Despite frequent calls for more research examining other regions in the world, critiques regarding colonial perspectives, and the increasing adoption of Indigenous methodologies (Hölscher & Chiumbu, 2020; Pio & Waddock, 2021), there remains a limited understanding of how individuals in the Global South manage their often multiple social identities, engage in identity work, or undergo identity transitions. In addition, although scholars have pointed to the unique context of the Global South, including various forms of inequality, oppression, and intersectionality, little is known about how this context influences one’s sense of self, self-presentation, identity construction, or the triggers and consequences of identity work.
This special issue aims to address this gap in the literature by adding to the burgeoning literature on identity and diversity in the workplace. Research on identity in an organizational setting is relevant to human resource management practitioners and scholars alike (Hennekam, 2016; Hennekam & Ladge, 2023; Hennekam et al., 2021). However, there is a dearth of studies on identity within the context of the Global South (Felix et al., 2023a). Much of this research in countries like Brazil has focused on immigration and national and racial identities and has often been conducted outside the field of organizational studies and management. Consequently, identity management and identity transitions relevant to the context of work may not be examined through the lens of organizational theories and models. Drawing upon empirical, theory-driven research, we need to deepen the understanding of the professional and personal identities of individuals in the Global South. In addition, more insights into the intersectional identities related to socioeconomic class, ethnicity, gender identity, and other social identities and how co-workers, managers, or workplaces, in general, can best account for these intersecting and interacting identities is needed (Zulfiqar & Prasad, 2021). Similarly, issues like identity threats and identity transitions require more scholarly attention in the context of Brazil (Felix et al., 2023b). Through this special issue, we seek to explore stigmatized identities (Felix et al., 2023c), spaces of identity work (Barros, 2018), forgone identities (Felix & Cavazotte, 2019; Obodaru, 2017), and enhance our understanding of managing identity as individuals navigate their careers and workplace relations. Further, we aim to contribute to decolonial scholarship by “deconstructing colonial ideologies and associated power structures and creating space for Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing” (Woods et al., 2022, p. 82). We hope that encouraging greater academic attention to identities in the Global South will lead to theoretical and practical implications that are useful for scholars and organizations alike.
RATIONALE OF THE SPECIAL ISSUE
This special issue aims to bring to the forefront a collection of high-quality theoretical insights and empirical research that adds to our understanding of the identities in the workplace in the Global South, with a particular focus on Brazil. We seek papers that draw on seminal theories and concepts in the areas of occupational psychology, diversity, organizational behavior, and organizational studies to create new knowledge on identities in the context of work. Moreover, we encourage scholars to adopt Indigenous methodologies and ontologies as they challenge hegemonic views from the Global North of 'seeing the world' and, consequently, oneself (Dell, 2021, p. 8; Castro, 2015). Such non-hegemonic methodologies and ontologies can highlight the limitations of the concept of identity, contributing to the development of this field of research. Likewise, we encourage scholars to challenge hegemonic views of organizations and work, considering – for example – the concept of organization (Czarniawska, 2013; Stanko et al., 2022) and the increasing precarization of work in Brazil and other countries in the Global South (Conde et al., 2023; Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, 2023).
We look forward to receiving studies that combine perspectives from the Global South and Global North. One way to do so is to use the framework of Two-Eyed Seeing (Colbourne et al., 2020). Two-Eyed Seeing allows people “To bridge Indigenous science and knowledge systems with western ones” (Colbourne et al., 2020, p. 68) through "a practice of decolonizing research that stresses a weaving back and forth between separate but parallel ways of knowing (knowledge systems)" (Colbourne et al., 2020, p. 72). However, other theoretical lenses such as stigma identity management theories, coping strategies, impression management, the decision to disclose a concealable identity, or power lenses might be useful to enhance our understanding of identities in the Global South. We welcome a range of theoretical insights and empirical approaches such as ethnographies, case studies, and qualitative and quantitative research but also more novel approaches through, for example, art as an expression of one’s identity (Cleveland, 2013) that tackle these issues in novel ways, develop new theory, provide links to existing theory and seminal concepts, and add new perspectives on the challenges and opportunities associated with examining this line of research. Further, various forms of identity work, such as narrative and discursive identity work, might be mobilized to create new insights into identity-related processes. Submissions should address topical and timely issues of relevance to a broad audience of organizational scholarship. We encourage interdisciplinary collaborations and perspectives, multilevel studies, participatory research, and longitudinal studies exploring the evolving and dynamic nature of identities.
We invite manuscripts that address, but are not restricted to, the following questions:
• How does the intersection of multiple forms of inequality influence one's identity construction?
• How do individuals with multiple stigmatized identities, such as people with disabilities, construct a valued identity in the context of work?
• How does the context of Brazil influence identity dynamics in the context of work?
• What triggers identity work for various groups of workers in the Brazilian context?
• How do individuals engage in identity work? What facilitates or hinders identity work and why?
• What role do others, such as co-workers, friends, family, or role models, play in the identities individuals imagine for themselves?
• What is the role of “identity play” in identity (re)construction?
• How does one’s sense of self evolve over time?
• What influence do organizational-level and societal-level factors have on how one’s identity unfolds in the context of work?
• What can we learn from decolonization perspectives with regard to identity development?
• What role do mentors, allies, or role models play in the identity-construction process of individuals in the context of work?
• What can we learn from Indigenous methodologies and ontologies regarding identity and identity transitions?
• How does the hegemony of the Global North influence identity construction and identity development in the Global South?
• How and why do individuals "perform" identities as they navigate the workplace?
• Why do individuals from the Global South become self-employed, and what are their experiences?
• How do individuals working in the informal job market – without legal security, stability, social and labor rights, and often, in precarious conditions – balance the boundaries between professional and personal life? When we consider the gender, ethnicity, and social class of these individuals, is there any difference in this dynamic?
• How do the dynamics of disidentification play out in the context of Brazil?
• Where does identity work take place, and how does this influence identity processes?
• How is liminality experienced in the Global South?
• How do time, context, and individual choices interrelate and influence how workers deal with their forgone identities?
• What is the role of art in the expression of one's identity in Brazil?
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TIMELINE*
- Online Paper Development Workshop: June 2024
- Paper Development Workshop (Fundação Dom Cabral): February 2025
- Papers due from contributors: April 21, 2025
- First round of blind review and editorial decisions: September 2025
- Revised manuscripts back from contributors: December 2025
- Second round of blind review and editorial decisions: March 2025
- Final recommendations for publication or rejection: May 2026
- Publication of Special Issue: July 2026
*Subject to changes.
The editors of this special issue are Bruno Felix, Fucape Business School, Brazil (bfelix@fucape.br); Sophie Hennekam, Audencia Nantes, France (shennekam@audencia.com); Ana Carolina Julio, Fucape Business School, Brazil (anacarolinajulio@fucape.br); Alice Oleto, Fundação Dom Cabral, Brazil (alice.oleto@fdc.org.br).
The deadline for submission of manuscripts is April 21, 2025. The special issue will be published in 2026.
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INSTRUCTIONS TO SUBMIT YOUR PAPER
Cadernos EBAPE.BR is an online and open-access journal focused on the area of administration, published in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration of Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV EBAPE).
Authors must follow the submission guidelines available at: https://periodicos.fgv.br/cadernosebape/normas
Submissions that do not conform to these instructions, in terms of manuscript style and referencing, will not be reviewed.
If this is the first time you are accessing the ScholarOne Manuscripts, you will be asked to create an account.
Manuscripts should be submitted by April 21, 2025, using Cadernos EBAPE.BR's online submission system: https://mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/cebape-scielo
Note: In the field "Author's Cover Letter," please inform that your submission refers to the special issue "Identities in the Global South."
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REFERENCES
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Castro, E. V. D. (2015). Cannibal metaphysics. University of Minnesota Press.
Cleveland, K. L. (2013). Black art in Brazil: Expressions of identity. University Press of Florida. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvx075nv
Colbourne, R., Moroz, P., Hall, C., Lendsay, K., & Anderson, R. B. (2020). Indigenous Works and Two-Eyed Seeing: mapping the case for Indigenous-led research. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, 15(1), 68-86. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-04-2019-1754
Conde, E. P., Felix, B., & Moreira, N. C. (2023). Laços que Criam Nós: Como Trabalhadores de Aplicativos Coconstroem suas Identidades em Contextos Precários de Trabalho. Revista de Administração Contemporânea, 27(6), e220083. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-7849rac2023220083.por
Czarniawska, B. (2013). Organizations as obstacles to organizing. In D. Robichaud, & F. Cooren (Eds.), Organization and organizing: Materiality, agency, and discourse. Routledge.
Dell, K. (2021). Rongomātau – ‘sensing the knowing’: An Indigenous Methodology Utilising Sensed Knowledge from the Researcher. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211062411
Felix, B., & Cavazotte, F. (2019). When a calling goes unanswered: exploring the role of workplace personalizations as calling enactments. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1940. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01940
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Hennekam, S., Ladge, J. J., & Powell, G. N. (2021). Confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic: How multi-domain work-life shock events may result in positive identity change. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 130, 103621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2021.103621
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Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. (2023). PNAD Contínua - Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios Contínua. https://www.ibge.gov.br/estatisticas/sociais/trabalho/9171-pesquisa-nacional-por-amostra-de-domicilios-continua-mensal.html
Kulkarni, M. (2020). Holding on to let go: Identity work in discontinuous and involuntary career transitions. Human Relations, 73(10), 1415-1438. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726719871087
Obodaru, O. (2017). Forgone, but not forgotten: Toward a theory of forgone professional identities. Academy of Management Journal, 60(2), 523-553. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.5465/amj.2013.0432
Pio, E., & Waddock, S. (2021). Invoking indigenous wisdom for management learning. Management Learning, 52(3), 328–346. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507620963956
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Woods, C., Dell, K., & Carroll, B. (2022). Decolonizing the Business School: Reconstructing the Entrepreneurship Classroom through Indigenizing Pedagogy and Learning. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 21(1), 82–100. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2020.0366
Zulfiqar, G. & Prasad, A. (2021). Challenging social inequality in the Global South: Class, privilege, and consciousness-raising through critical management education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 20(2), 156-181. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2019.0294
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