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INTEGRATING ORGANIZATION STUDIES AND COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY: A PROCESS MODEL OF AN ORGANIZING SENSE OF PLACE IN WORKING LIVES
Author(s) -
Calvard Thomas S.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.21754
Subject(s) - sensemaking , mainstream , sociology , process (computing) , space (punctuation) , sense of community , epistemology , interface (matter) , community psychology , psychology , social psychology , knowledge management , social science , computer science , political science , philosophy , bubble , maximum bubble pressure method , parallel computing , law , operating system
In this conceptual paper, I propose to advance thinking about organization theory in community contexts by theorizing about the roles of place and space in working lives. I argue that work in the mainstream of organization studies often downplays contextual aspects of the community‐based places that workers inhabit, largely by trying to generalize across them. A colourless language of firms, institutions, and agents can obscure more humanistic, ecological understandings of how workers occupy and make use of various places for supporting their well‐being and sense of self. A sense of place (and by implication, space) has the potential to draw together relevant existing work at the organization studies‐community psychology interface more comprehensively. I therefore integrate key ideas from this interface with sensemaking theory and present a three‐stage process model of an organizing sense of place. I conclude by discussing the implications arising for future research, theorizing, and practice.