A main characteristic of late modern societies is the decline of the grand narratives of family, church, government, and nation. The decline of these narratives, as well as the authority of the institutions constituted in and by them, has left an open space, a void if you will. A void that seems to exert an almost gravitational pull on other narratives and other institutions, all of which are eager to occupy the space left open.

With this conference, we are particularly interested in exploring, analyzing, discussing, and critiquing the phenomenon of organizational socialization, i.e., what happens when corporations step in and strive to fill this void.

Theorizing the wider, socio-political ramifications of this phenomenon, led sociologist-cum-philosopher Jürgen Habermas to describe a society in which the logic of the market (i.e., “system imperatives”) would “encroach” on the public sphere, and, hence, on the lifeworlds of individuals. Applying the notion of encroachment to the corporate world, critical organizational scholar Stanley Deetz talks about the “corporate colonization” of the individual’s life world. Against this broader, societal backdrop, Dennis Mumby, from the point of view of critical organizational communication, stipulates that “corporations have become the primary institution for human identity formation”.

This conference on organizational discourse and communication studies finds its intellectual point of departure by integrating these insights from sociology with the growing critical awareness within the field of organizational discourse and communication studies. By leaning on Diane Vaughan’s phrase “the dark side of organizations”, we aim to contribute to this conversation by offering a specific focus on the dark side of organizational socialization.

Contrary to the widespread intuition that organizational socialization only takes place in the transitional phase during which a newcomer acquires the work-related skillset needed to fulfill a work role in an organization, we see organizational socialization as a perpetual process aiming, ultimately, at employee identity formation. In this view, organizational socialization is a process that spans and permeates the entirety of an employee life cycle, i.e., from attracting, recruiting, onboarding, developing, to offboarding an employee. Seen as a process aiming at employee identity formation, organizational socialization is not merely a mechanical matter of an employee acquiring a certain skillset; but the much more momentous matter of instilling in an employee the “appropriate” organizational mindset.

And that, in essence, is where this conference would like to enter the conversation. For if indeed a corporate mindset is the ultimate goal of organizational socialization, then the phenomenon in question becomes, eo ipso, a phenomenon that transgresses traditional organizational boundaries. We see the ramifications of this phenomenon emerging when employees are expected to (sometimes even encouraged to) act as company ambassadors, to ‘live’ the brand, to participate in employee advocacy programs, and to adhere to company values – not merely at work, but off work as well. Organizational socialization, in this light, is not a mere intra-organizational triviality, but does indeed become a potent transformational vehicle harboring the very real possibility of shepherding extra-organizational identity formation in the individual.

It is against this multifaceted, theoretical background, that this conference invites scholars to engage in a critical, 3600 look at organizational communication. We welcome conceptual as well as empirical work with the aim of exploring, analyzing, problematizing and critiquing perspectives such as, but not limited to:

Realizations & materializations:
How is organizational socialization constituted in, say,

• discourses
• communication
• texts
• interactions
• practices and routines
• structures
• cultures and performances
• Minds and mindsets
• Material bodies, architectures, and objects
• Space and time
• …

Philosophical underpinnings:
How is organizational socialization justified as, say,

• a function of corporate ideology, of business philosophy
• aligned with the organization’s vision, mission and values
• a natural outgrowth of managerialism
• the means with which to ensure a dedicated workforce
• the means with which to ensure a uniform organizational culture
• …

Ramifications:
How does organizational socialization potentially influence, say,

• the individual organizational member’s identity formation and organizational identification
• employee voice and participation
• individuals’ attempts at individualization
• newcomers’ strategies for establishing a presence in the organization
• the relationship between co-workers
• the work-life balance of organizational members
• relations between organizations and their societies
• mechanisms of unobtrusive control
  dissensus, resistance, or micro-politics
• competing identitities “within” the organization/ sub-cultures etc.
• …

Professor (emeritus) Stanley Deetz, University of Colorado, Boulder

• Socialization as Enablement and Constraint: Conditions for Choice and Unwitting Consent

Professor Karen Myers, UC Santa Barbara

• Neither All Dark, Nor All Bright: Both Sides of Organizational Socialization and Assimilation

Professor Gerlinde Mautner, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien

• False positives: A critique of leadership discourse

Professor Sine Nørholm Just, RUC

• The bright side of the dark side of digital organizing? Online socialization from the Capitol Hill riots to the GameStop rescue

Programme Thursday 11th November 2021

08:30– 9:00 - REGISTRATION

9:00 – 10:00 - KEYNOTE ADRESS BY SINE NØRHOLM JUST
The bright side of the dark side of digital organizing? Online socialization from the Capitol Hill riots to the GameStop rescue
 
10:00 – 10:15 - COFFEE BREAK

10:15 – 10:45 - PRESENTATION BY LINE SCHMELTZ AND ANNA KARINA KJELDSEN
The new role of the responsible corporation in society

10:45 – 11:15 - PRESENTATION BY NIKOLAJ KLEE
Filling the void - a question of responsive resonance?

11:15– 11:45 - PRESENTATION BY DENNIS PUORIDEME
“We are not new employees”: The ‘dark side’ of employee socialization in a ‘new’ organizational setting

12:15 – 13:15 - LUNCH BREAK
 
13.15 – 14.15 - DEPARTMENT OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION, LUND UNIVERSITY AND COMORG, AALBORG UNIVERSITY
Exploring Employee Voice

14:15 – 14:45 - PRESENTATION BY DENA COUNTS AND JONATHAN CAMP
Managing Organizational Identity Change at an Online University Spin-off Campus

14:45-15:15 - PRESENTATION BY ZHENYU TIAN AND PATRICE BUZZANELL
You’ve Got to Protect Yourself before You can Get the Rest of the Business Done”: Chinese Women Entrepreneurs Navigating the Dark Side of Business Socializing

15:15 – 15:45 PRESENTATION BY RITA DANIELS
A critical consideration for employee intersectional identities in organizational socialization
 
15:45 – 16:00 - COFFEE BREAK

16:15 – 16:45 - PRESENTATION BY VIBEKE THØIS MADSEN
Making sense of participatory communication: Exploring the employee perspective on a change process in a public sector organization

16:45 – 17:15 - PRESENTATION BY ANTONIO CARVALHO AND RITA GRACIO
The dark side of mindfulness: capitalism, neoliberal selves and the workplace

17:15 – 17:45 - PRESENTATION BY TRINE SUSANNE JOHANSEN, KLARISSA LUEG AND ELISABETH RAVN ADRIANSEN
Organizational Heritage Communication. Towards a conceptual taxonomy of accounts of organizational past

18:00 – 19:00 - KEYNOTE ADRESS BY KAREN MYERS
Neither All Dark, Nor All Bright: Both Sides of Organizational Socialization and Assimilation
 
EVENING
Dinner at La Locanda, C.W. Obels Plads 3, DK-9000 Aalborg 

Programme Friday 12th November 2021
https://aaudk.zoom.us/j/68882875956
Passcode: 098371

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9:00 – 10:00 - KEYNOTE ADRESS BY GERLINDE MAUTNER
False positives: A critique of leadership discourse
 
10:00 – 10:15 - COFFEE BREAK
 
10:15 – 10:45 - PRESENTATION BY PETER KASTBERG & MARIANNE GROVE DITLEVSEN
To give or not to give – voice to employees in the employee magazine

10:45 – 11:15 - PRESENTATION BY JOCHEN HOFFMANN AND MIA THYREGOD RASMUSSEN
Organizations as Moving Targets: Expanding the Theoretical Landscape of Organizational Socialization Research

11:15 – 11.45 - PRESENTATION BY ANETTE KAAGAARD KRISTENSEN AND MARTIN KRISTENSEN
The phenomenology of hazing in organizations
 
12:15 – 13:15 - LUNCH BREAK
 
13:15 – 13:45 - PRESENTATION BY KIRK ST. AMANT
The Psychology of Making Dark Seem Light: An Approach to Understanding the Cognition of Deception in Dark Designs

13:45 – 14:15 - PRESENTATION BY IDA LØTH, SARA LASSKOGEN AND LEO SMITH
The Myth of the Ideal Graduate: A Critical Perspective on Narrative Identity Formation in a Cohort of Graduates

14:15 – 14:45 - PRESENTATION BY BENDT TORPEGAARD PEDERSEN AND THOMAS BORCHMANN
Ambivalence and resistance towards time-registration
 
14:45 – 15:00 - COFFEE BREAK
 
15:00 – 16:00 - KEYNOTE ADRESS BY STAN DEETZ
Socialization as Enablement and Constraint: Conditions for Choice and Unwitting Consent

16:00 – 16:30 - PRESENTATION BY DAJUNG WOO AND RACHEL ACOSTA
Young Professionals’ Experience of Organizational Socialization: Negotiating Liminality and Meanings of Stepping-Stone Roles

16:30 – 17:00 - PRESENTATION BY MONA AGERHOLM ANDERSEN AND HELLE ESKESEN GODE
Socialization of Millennials in a large Danish company

17:00 – 17:30- COMORG, AALBORG UNIVERSITY
Quo vadis, organizational Socialization

We invite all interested scholars to submit paper abstracts dealing with The Dark Side of Organizational Socialization. We welcome conceptual as well as empirical work with the aim of exploring, analyzing, problematizing and critiquing perspectives such as, but not limited to:

Realizations & materializations:
How is organizational socialization constituted in, say, discourses, communication, texts, interactions, practices and routines, structures, cultures and performances, Minds and mindsets, Material bodies, architectures, and objects, Space and time, …

Philosophical underpinnings:
How is organizational socialization justified as, say, a function of corporate ideology, of business philosophy; aligned with the organization’s vision, mission and values; a natural outgrowth of managerialism; the means with which to ensure a dedicated workforce; the means with which to ensure a uniform organizational culture; …

Ramifications:
How does organizational socialization potentially influence, say, the individual organizational member’s identity formation and organizational identification; employee voice and participation; individuals’ attempts at individualization; newcomers’ strategies for establishing a presence in the organization; the relationship between co-workers; the work-life balance of organizational members; relations between organizations and their societies; mechanisms of unobtrusive control; dissensus, resistance, or micro-politics; competing identitities “within” the organization/ sub-cultures etc.; …

Abstracts should not exceed 300 words and should include title of paper, research topic, method, empirical data, theoretical approach, (expected) findings and references (max. 5 references).

Please ensure that your abstract is anonymized by removing all features from the text as well as from the document properties that may help identify you as the author of the text. For references to your own work in the reference list, please use ‘author’.

Presentations have a duration of 20 minutes + 10 min discussion. The conference language is English.

The conference language is English.

• Abstract submission deadline: August 1st, 2021
• Notification of acceptance: September 1st, 2021
• Conference fee due: October 1st, 2021

Please click on the Easy Chair Quick Guide below for instructions on submitting a panel proposal or a paper abstract.

1. Login to the conference submission page: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=icdc2021
   1. Existing users of EasyChair may login to EasyChair using their existing “user name” and
          “password” (e.g., if you have previously submitted an abstract for another conference using
          EasyChair).
   2. New users must sign up for an EasyChair account on the EasyChair website. 
2. When logged into EasyChair click on the ”New Submission” button in the top left corner.
3. Please fill in the mandatory information under ”Authors” for all authors of the paper/panel (please have the following information ready before you start the submission: name, email address, institutional affiliation of all authors).
4. Insert the title of your proposal.
5. Special guidelines for thematic panel proposals and abstracts, respectively:
   • For panel proposals only: In the online submission form, please write the name, email address and affiliation of the person(s) who will chair the panel. Please make sure to tick the “corresponding author” box for at least one author. Paste your proposal text into the online form (max. 600 words).
   • For abstract submissions only: In the online submission form, please write the name, email address and affiliation of all authors. Please make sure to tick the “corresponding author” box for at least one author (only corresponding authors will receive notifications from the system). Please select the speaker. In case of more than one presenter, please write the additional name(s) in the “Comments” box. Paste your proposal text into the online form (max. 300 words including references).
6. Add ”Keywords” (minimum three keywords on separate lines). 
7. Click on the ”Submit” button
   (you can revise the abstract and author information etc. until the submission deadline).

Important notice:
Please note that acceptance notifications will be sent via EasyChair. Unfortunately, emails from EasyChair are often caught in spam filters so please make sure that you check your spam filter and change your email settings so that EasyChair emails are never blocked.

Please note that the conference will be held at the main university campus, situated app. 7 kilometers from the city center. The adress is:

Aalborg University
Department of Culture and Learning
Kroghstræde 3
9220 Aalborg East

The conference is hosted by the Department of Culture and Learning, Aalborg University.

We recommend the following two hotels:

SLOTSHOTELLET AALBORG
The hotel is located by the waterfront in Aalborg. It offers 156 spacious rooms furnished with luxury Jensen beds and hypoallergenic duvets and pillows.

Slotshotellet Aalborg
Rendsburggade 5
9000 Aalborg
Google Maps

Distance to Aalborg University: 7 km
Distance to the airport: 7 km
For more information and booking please visit: Slotshotellet Aalborg. 

HOTEL CABINN AALBORG
Since October 2009, CABINN has welcomed guests at this modern economy-class hotel in the heart of Aalborg. CABINN’s next-door neighbor is Aalborg’s shopping centre Friis. The hotel has 239 rooms, all with private bath/wc, TV and a free wifi.

CABINN Aalborg
Fjordgade 20
DK-9000 Aalborg
Google Maps

Distance to Aalborg University: 7 km
Distance to the airport: 7 km
For more information and booking please visit: CABINN AALBORG. 

* * *

For other accommodation options please see VisitAalborg’s official website:

• Hotels
• Private accommodation

The conference is hosted by the Department of Culture and Learning, Aalborg University.

This year’s conference will be a hybrid conference, i.e., simultaneously take place both online (Zoom) and onsite, i.e., at the main university campus at Kroghstræde 3, DK 9220 Aalborg East, Denmark.

The four key note addresses all will be online talks via Zoom

Transport

Aalborg by plane

Situated in Northern Denmark, Aalborg is well connected in several ways. With an excellent internal air, rail and road network, getting to Aalborg has never been easier. For visitors from the Nordic countries it is easier to fly to Aalborg via Copenhagen Airport which has a virtual air bridge to Aalborg with more than 30 daily connections and a flight time of only 35 minutes. For further information about flights to and from Aalborg, see Aalborg Airport’s website.

• SAS
• Norwegian
• KLM

To and from the airport

Arriving by plane you will find yourself at Aalborg Airport, only 15 minutes by train, bus and taxi from the city centre and the conference venue. The taxi rank is located outside the terminal and will take you directly to your hotel. The price for taxi ride is DKK 180-250 depending on your hotel destination. While in Aalborg, feel free to call a cab at: +45 9810 1010 (Aalborg Taxi).

The newly established train line will take you to Aalborg train station (with stops at Lindholm Station and Vestbyen Station). The platform is a few hundred meters to the right when you exit the airport. Trains leave every 60 minutes. The train fare is DKK 24 per person.

Buses leave from the airport several times per hour and take you to the city centre. The bus fare is DKK 24 per person, cash only. Neither foreign currency nor credit cards are accepted. However, you can withdraw cash from ATMs at the airport.

As you exit the airport building using the revolving doors at the check-in area, you will find the buses going to downtown Aalborg on your right hand side. The buses with the following numbers and final destinations will take you to the bus station in Aalborg which is centrally located (with multiple stops along the way) and a 10-minute walk from the conference venue:

Buses no. 12 (direction “Universitetet”), 70 (“Aalborg Busterminal”), 71 (“Aalborg Busterminal”) and 200 (“Aalborg busterminal”).

When returning to the airport, you have the following bus options from the bus terminal:

Busses no. 12 (direction “Aabybro”/”Airport”), 70 (“Thisted Busterminal”), 71 (“Hjørring Busterminal”) and 200 (“Blokhus”)

For more information on buses, please visit www.rejseplanen.dk to plan your travel.

Due to the covid-19 pandemic, we have chosen to make this conference a hybrid, i.e., an ‘onsite’ & online, conference – for keynote speakers and participants alike. This ensures that delegates may be able to attend the conference regardless of preference for coming to Aalborg and being with us ‘onsite’ or for staying at home and being with us online.