A new normal? Competing national cultural discourses and workers’ constructions of identity and meaningful work in Norway

ABSTRACT

We examine how conceptions of identity and meaningful work are influenced by a nation's changing economic and political environment. We collected research in Norway – a country with a rich economy that has heavily relied upon oil production since the 1980s. Yet depleting oil resources are prompting an economic transformation. Twenty-seven interviews and a thematic analysis revealed how Norwegian workers safeguarded their traditional, collective workplace values, yet were simultaneously confronted with modern – more masculinized – workplace performances ushered in with the oil era. We contribute to theory by suggesting that work's meaningfulness is constructed by competing national cultural discourses that evolve over time. These discourses become narratives that citizens draw upon to evaluate work and to negotiate their personal and professional identities.

KEYWORDS:

• Meaningful work
• national cultural discourse
• identity negotiation
• Norway

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Drs Larry Browning and Jan-Oddvar Sørnes for their guidance and important roles in collecting this research. They would also like to thank Editor-in-Chief Tamara Afifi and the anonymous reviewers at Communication Monographs for their thoughtful feedback and continued support throughout the revision process.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Research in the High North Fellowship, Bodø Graduate School of Business, University of Nordland, Bodø, Norway.