Rethinking non-traditional resistance at work : the case of the Indian Diaspora in Mauritius

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Sambajee, Pratima (2015) Rethinking non-traditional resistance at work : the case of the Indian Diaspora in Mauritius. Culture and Organization, 21 (5). pp. 386-408. (https://doi.org/10.1080/14759551.2015.1060233)

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Abstract

Resistance at work can take many forms and this is reflected in the multiple ways it has been theorised in research. In this paper, I use postcolonial theory to analyse employee resistance in Mauritius. To do this, I deploy Homi Bhabha’s concepts of mimicry, ambivalence and hybridity to explore non-traditional forms of resistance among the Indian Diaspora working in the hotel industry. Using ethnographic research, I firstly look at its ‘home’-making practices as it is within the home that visions of community emerge (Bhabha, 1994) which could later influence behaviours at work. I argue that the Diaspora maintains connections with its ancestral roots via routine religious practices and language use while concomitantly resisting assimilation in the local context. The analysis is then extended to their workplace where further forms of non-traditional resistance are found to be enacted which are strongly influenced by the same values emerging at home.

ORCID iDs

Sambajee, Pratima ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8867-877X;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)