The aesthetic diaspora: a photographic study of objects in the workspace
by Ricky Yuk-kwan Ng; Heather J. Höpfl
International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion (IJWOE), Vol. 6, No. 1, 2014

Abstract: This study looks into the workspace personalisation (mise-en-scène) and the display of personal possession in workspace as symbolic representations and thus explores the relationship between professional and personal life. The use of photo-ethnographical and photo-elicitation interviews inquiry strategies aims to observe social activities in the workplace facilitate the emergence of behavioural patterns. The major findings of this study reveal that the three interrelated concepts of exile, diaspora and mise-en-scène contribute to the psychological and behavioural patterns of workspace personalisation and the display of personal objects in the workspace. It is also found that personal belongings were being used as 'objects in exile' and as 'emblems at work' which represented the 'surrogated-self' in order to compensate for the temporary loss of identity during the exile to work. Further articulation of the above concepts brought forward the novel theories of the 'exiled and the confined', the 'otherness at work', the 'ethnical and culturally bounded work culture', the underlying meanings of the 'selected-self', the 'to be or not to be' and the use of 'mise-en-scène as dramaturgical performances' in the workplace under specified work culture.

Online publication date: Sat, 24-May-2014

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