Journal of Business Ethics· 2026Q1
Effective Worker Resistance and Realist Ideology Critique
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- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
This paper introduces 'epistemic efficacy' as a new dimension for evaluating worker resistance, defined as the ability to disrupt workplace ideological legitimation and foster egalitarian contestation.
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Key points
- Introduces 'epistemic efficacy' as a novel concept for evaluating worker resistance.
- Defines epistemic efficacy as resistance that reliably disrupts ideological legitimation.
- Highlights the creation of opportunities for egalitarian and collective contestation as a key aspect of epistemic efficacy.
- Applies the framework to analyze gossip as a form of workplace resistance.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract When do workers have good reasons to endorse a specific resistance strategy against managerial injustice? The answer partly requires clarifying whether that form of resistance is effective. But how should we understand efficacy? Political theorists cannot simply refer this question to empirical researchers. There is conceptual unclarity on what counts as efficacy. This paper shows that efficacy is a complex concept with multiple politically relevant dimensions. We illustrate this complexity by developing an epistemic notion of efficacy through a method of ideology critique, articulating a distinct dimension of effective resistance. A practice of resistance is epistemically efficacious if it reliably disrupts the mechanisms of ideological legitimation in the workplace by creating opportunities for egalitarian and collective contestation. Epistemic efficacy is a distinct evaluative lens that can assess the effectiveness of a resistance practice. After presenting the main argument, we apply our framework to the case of gossip as workplace resistance.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Business Ethics, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Information Systems and Management
Information Systems and ManagementDecision Sciences