Control, Resistance, and Empowerment in Raced, Gendered, and Classed Work Contexts: The Case of African American Women

Abstract

This chapter uses feminist and critical organizational communication perspectives to examine control, resistance, and empowerment as revealed in the literature on African American women’s work experiences. Acker’s (1991) model of gendered organizations is extended to include race and class, and to frame an understanding of African American women’s subordination (control) and resistance (empowerment) in work situations. This chapter presents evidence of African American women’s subordination in three aspects of raced, gendered, and classed work contexts: (a) organizational divisions (e.g., divisions of labor, allowed behaviors, and work spaces), (b) symbolic constructions, and (c) workplace interactions. African American women’s empowerment in these work contexts are revealed in five themes that are informed by a Black feminist perspective and that are expressed somewhat differently by working-class or working-poor women as compared to middle-and upper-class women in the professions. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.