Discourses that silence and deflect attention away from the interests of low-wage workers experiencing job loss

Abstract

This case study, involving in-depth interviewing with 60 employees and an extensive newspaper analysis, illuminates that public discourse in and around the lived experience of job loss is not only minimal, but that there are discursive mechanisms that deflect attention away from the interests of the human beings facing unemployment. Discursive control as a focus of critical organizational communication scholarship provides the context for exploring the data. Silence and false information emerge in all of the discourse communities as mechanisms of control. A third mechanism labeled as discursive deflection is identified as a means by which discourse communities with organizational power and the ability to shape public perceptions of the closing deflect attention away from the interests of the low-wage workers. Considerations for future critical organizational scholarship are offered.

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