Dear Colleagues,

We invite contributions to a special issue exploring the relationship between organizations and social group formation, and the consequences that arise when group identities manifest in organizational contexts. Group belonging can foster dedication, cooperation, and productivity, but it also carries risks. Over-identification with organizational roles may lead to stress, overwork, or the silencing of dissent. Group identities may form in response to organizational changes, sometimes antagonizing “the other” and leading to exclusion, conflict, or stagnation. Group formations and feelings of belonging (and not belonging) can also emerge based on characteristics like gender, age, ethnicity, migration history, or citizenship, and on their intersectionality. Organizations mirror wider social inequalities: biases related to gender, class, race, or nationality can shape recruitment, promotions, communication, and pay, turning workplaces and organizations into “inequality regimes.” Organizational practices can mitigate or reinforce these dynamics. Team management, psychological safety, training against groupthink, and bias-awareness programs may encourage constructive group processes and innovation. We are interested in how organizations manage processes related to group-formation, identity and belonging, and in how this reflects or impacts on larger societal developments.

We invite original contributions on (but not limited to):

• Exclusion and discrimination (e.g., expatriates, migrant workers, minorities)
• Communicative means of group-making (symbolism, microaggressions, verbal attacks)
• Belonging and not-belonging: sociomaterial and discursive perspectives
• Hierarchies, social status struggles, and inequality regimes
• Drivers of group identity (volunteering, brand activism, employee rivalry)
• Organizational change and its impact on group-making, voice, and resistance
• Practices of identity construction, professional reputation, and status-making
• Governance, education and training of groups
• Power, rivalry, and positioning among employees

Klarissa Lueg, Simon Jebsen and Angela Graf
Guest Editors