IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v333y2023ics0277953623005026.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Becoming active in the micro-politics of healthcare re-organisation: The identity work and political activation of doctors, nurses and managers

Author

Listed:
  • Waring, Justin
  • Bishop, Simon
  • Clarke, Jenelle
  • Roe, Bridget

Abstract

The changing organisation and governance of healthcare work represents a persistent focus of micro-politics. Whilst there is a developed literature describing the micro-political struggles that occur amongst healthcare occupations, there is little understanding about how, when and why actors become politically aware and active. Framed by research on political activation and the concept of identity work, this paper reports on a narrative interview study with 65 people, specifically doctors, nurses and managers, working in the English healthcare system. The narratives show that healthcare workers become increasingly aware of and engaged in micro-political activities through incremental stages based on their accumulating experiences. These stages are opportunities for identity work as actors make sense of their experiences of micro-politics, their occupational affiliations and their evolving sense of self. This identity work is shaped by actors' changing views about the morality of playing politics, the emotional implications of their engagement, and their deepening political commitments. The study shows that political socialisation and activation can vary between occupations and rather than assuming political affiliations are given or acquired the papers highlights the reflective agency of healthcare actors.

Suggested Citation

  • Waring, Justin & Bishop, Simon & Clarke, Jenelle & Roe, Bridget, 2023. "Becoming active in the micro-politics of healthcare re-organisation: The identity work and political activation of doctors, nurses and managers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:333:y:2023:i:c:s0277953623005026
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116145
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953623005026
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116145?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Waring, Justin & Bishop, Simon, 2013. "McDonaldization or Commercial Re-stratification: Corporatization and the multimodal organisation of English doctors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 147-155.
    2. Leticia Bode & Amy B. Becker, 2018. "Go Fix It: Comedy as an Agent of Political Activation," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 99(5), pages 1572-1584, November.
    3. Jones, Lorelei & Fulop, Naomi, 2021. "The role of professional elites in healthcare governance: Exploring the work of the medical director," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    4. Waring, Justin & Roe, Bridget & Crompton, Amanda & Bishop, Simon, 2020. "The contingencies of medical restratification across inter-organisational care networks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Archer, Julian & Nunn, Suzanne & Regan de Bere, Sam, 2017. "The McDonaldization of appraisal? Doctors’ views of the early impacts of medical revalidation in the United Kingdom," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(9), pages 994-1000.
    2. Harris, Rebecca & Mosedale, Sarah & Garner, Jayne & Perkins, Elizabeth, 2014. "What factors influence the use of contracts in the context of NHS dental practice? A systematic review of theory and logic model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 54-59.
    3. Waring, Justin & Roe, Bridget & Crompton, Amanda & Bishop, Simon, 2020. "The contingencies of medical restratification across inter-organisational care networks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    4. Haaland, Inga & Metta, Emmy & Moen, Kåre, 2023. "The use of PrEP among men who have sex with men and transgender women as Biomedical Prevention Work: A conceptual framework," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    5. Cascón-Pereira, Rosalía & Chillas, Shiona & Hallier, Jerry, 2016. "Role-meanings as a critical factor in understanding doctor managers' identity work and different role identities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 18-25.
    6. Sabina Siebert & Stacey Bushfield & Graeme Martin & Brian Howieson, 2018. "Eroding ‘Respectability’: Deprofessionalization Through Organizational Spaces," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 32(2), pages 330-347, April.
    7. Johan Alvehus & Sanna Eklund & Gustaf Kastberg, 2020. "Organizing Professionalism – New Elites, Stratification and Division of Labor," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 163-177, March.
    8. Amy B. Becker, 2022. "Let's talk about the Israel–Palestine conflict: Does exposure to political comedy about the Middle East influence policy attitudes?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(3), pages 724-736, May.
    9. Racko, Girts, 2017. "Bureaucratization and medical professionals’ values: A cross-national analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 76-84.
    10. Elyesa KOYTAK, 2020. "Meslek Sosyolojisinde Teorik Yaklaşımlar," Journal of Economy Culture and Society, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 0(1), pages 1-27, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:333:y:2023:i:c:s0277953623005026. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.