Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Cheney, Zorn, Planalp and Lair (in press) call on scholars of organizational communication to study the multi-dimensional and multi-layered construct of the meaning(s) of work. In this paper, first, I review the literature on this topic from other disciplines. Second, I discuss cross-cultural perspectives on the meanings of work and finally, I focus on the meanings in women’s work and illustrate this through the work-life narratives of self-employed women in India. I argue that meaning-making is a privileged concept that cannot be understood outside the contexts of race, class, gender, nationality, and the larger social discourses informing those contexts