Resisting by re-existing in the workplace: A decolonial perspective through the Brazilian adage “For the English to See”

Abstract

For almost 200 years, the expression “For the English to See” has been applied in Brazilian society as part of its colloquial language. We choose to examine the adage from a perspective of decolonial resistance. We seek to interrogate how an understanding of “For the English to See” can help us to better comprehend the ways resistance is shaped and manifest in contemporary Brazilian society. To do so, we conducted in-depth interviews with 76 Brazilian executives, drawing from a decolonial framework. We contribute to knowledge on resistance in Management and Organization Studies through introducing the concept of resistance by re-existing, which is located “in between spaces” of the colonized and colonizers worlds. We reveal several subjectivation strategies of re-existing as resistance, through the lens of the “For the English to See” expression, which range on a spectrum of embodiment and concealing of coloniality. Our study advances decolonial studies through its use of hybridity and borderization concepts that aid our understanding of organizing resistance in postcolonial settings such as Brazil.

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