IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v181y2022i4d10.1007_s10551-021-04949-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Politics and Ethics of Resistance, Feminism and Gender Equality in Saudi Arabian Organizations

Author

Listed:
  • Maryam Aldossari

    (Aston University)

  • Thomas Calvard

    (University of Edinburgh Business School)

Abstract

Greater numbers of women are entering workplaces in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries. Structural features of patriarchy are changing in Middle Eastern societies and workplaces, but women’s experiences of gendered segregation, under-representation and exclusion raise questions around the feminist politics and ethics mobilized to respond to them. Building on and extending emerging research on feminism, gender, resistance, feminist ethics and the Middle East, we use data from an interview study with 58 Saudi Arabian women to explore their attitudes toward gender-segregated and mixed workplaces. We develop a novel conceptualization of how gender is experienced through patternings of resistance and conformity shaped by the ethicopolitical, religiopolitical and sociocultural webs of meaning in Saudi society that permeate workplaces. Saudi women’s attitudes and actions in the workplace are neither entirely individual and private nor entirely collective and public, but made up of nuanced commitments and resistances to context-relevant identity issues. We discuss implications of our findings for the feminist ethics and politics of gendered resistance and conformity to working practices and norms in Islamic and Middle Eastern settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Maryam Aldossari & Thomas Calvard, 2022. "The Politics and Ethics of Resistance, Feminism and Gender Equality in Saudi Arabian Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(4), pages 873-890, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:181:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-021-04949-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-021-04949-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-021-04949-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-021-04949-3?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. Tamer Koburtay & Jawad Syed & Radi Haloub, 2020. "Implications of Religion, Culture, and Legislation for Gender Equality at Work: Qualitative Insights from Jordan," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 421-436, July.
    2. Rania Salem & Kathryn M. Yount, 2019. "Structural accommodations of patriarchy: Women and workplace gender segregation in Qatar," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 501-519, May.
    3. Ozan Nadir Alakavuklar & Fahreen Alamgir, 2018. "Ethics of Resistance in Organisations: A Conceptual Proposal," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 31-43, April.
    4. Sian, S. & Agrizzi, D. & Wright, T. & Alsalloom, A., 2020. "Negotiating constraints in international audit firms in Saudi Arabia: Exploring the interaction of gender, politics and religion," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Sophie Alkhaled, 2021. "Women's entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia: Feminist solidarity and political activism in disguise?," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 950-972, May.
    6. Dima Younes & David Courpasson & Marie-Rachel Jacob, 2020. "Ethics from Below: Secrecy and the Maintenance of Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 451-466, May.
    7. Charlotte Lysa, 2020. "Fighting for the right to play: women’s football and regime-loyal resistance in Saudi Arabia," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 842-859, May.
    8. Karam, Charlotte M. & Jamali, Dima, 2013. "Gendering CSR in the Arab Middle East: An Institutional Perspective," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 31-68, January.
    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. Layla Branicki & Senia Kalfa & Alison Pullen & Stephen Brammer, 2023. "Corporate Responses to Intimate Partner Violence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(4), pages 657-677, November.
    2. Kate Grosser & Jeremy Moon, 2019. "CSR and Feminist Organization Studies: Towards an Integrated Theorization for the Analysis of Gender Issues," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 321-342, March.
    3. Sarah Lauwo, 2018. "Challenging Masculinity in CSR Disclosures: Silencing of Women’s Voices in Tanzania’s Mining Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 689-706, May.
    4. Silvia Gherardi & Oliver Laasch, 2022. "Responsible Management-as-Practice: Mobilizing a Posthumanist Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(2), pages 269-281, November.
    5. Juelin Yin & Dima Jamali, 2021. "Collide or Collaborate: The Interplay of Competing Logics and Institutional Work in Cross-Sector Social Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(4), pages 673-694, April.
    6. Özgü Karakulak & Thomas B. Lawrence, 2024. "Social-Symbolic Work in the Construction of Social Problems: Constructing Gender Inequality in Turkish Social Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(3), pages 461-486, July.
    7. Egan, Matthew & Voss, Barbara de Lima, 2023. "Redressing the Big 4’s male, pale and stale image, through LGBTIQ+ ethical praxis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    8. Kaltham Al-Ghanim & Andrew Gardner & Noora Lari, 2023. "Contemporary Women in Qatar: An Ethnographic Study of Their Challenges in Terms of Traditional Applications and Modern Requirements," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, August.
    9. Dina El-Bassiouny & Peter Letmathe, 2019. "Political instability and corporate social responsibility: the case of Egypt," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 16(5), pages 745-767, June.
    10. Guclu Atinc & Saurabh Srivastava & Sonia Taneja, 2022. "The impact of gender quotas on corporate boards: a cross-country comparative study," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 26(3), pages 685-706, September.
    11. Elena P. Antonacopoulou & Andri Georgiadou, 2021. "Leading through social distancing: The future of work, corporations and leadership from home," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 749-767, March.
    12. Sian, S., 2023. "Off-ramps and on-ramps: Career continuity and discontinuity in professional accountancy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    13. Huda Al Mulhem & Khadija El Alaoui & Maura A. E. Pilotti, 2023. "A Sustainable Academic Journey in the Middle East: An Exploratory Study of Female College Students’ Self-Efficacy and Perceived Social Support," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-15, January.
    14. Charlotte M. Karam & Fida Afiouni, 2021. "Career constructions and a feminist standpoint on the meaning of context," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 672-700, March.
    15. Anri Hiramatsu, 2022. "Female taxi drivers in Mexico City: Facing patriarchal structures as a force of oppression," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1638-1657, September.
    16. Alex Faria & Marcus Hemais, 2021. "Transmodernizing Management Historiographies of Consumerism for the Majority," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(3), pages 447-465, October.
    17. Jamali, Dima & Karam, Charlotte & Yin, Juelin & Soundararajan, Vivek, 2017. "CSR logics in developing countries: Translation, adaptation and stalled development," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 343-359.
    18. McDaid, Emma & Andon, Paul & Free, Clinton, 2023. "Algorithmic management and the politics of demand: Control and resistance at Uber," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    19. IWASAKI, Ichiro & MA, Xinxin & MIZOBATA, Satoshi, 2024. "Board Gender Diversity in China and Eastern Europe," CEI Working Paper Series 2023-09, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    20. Elbanna, Said & Abdelzaher, Dina M. & Ramadan, Nora, 2020. "Management research in the Arab World: What is now and what is next?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(2).

    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:kap:jbuset:v:181:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-021-04949-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.