Discourse as strategic coping resource: managing the interface between “home” and “work”

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Abstract
Purpose – To provide insight into the consequences of telework from the perspective of the teleworker and the household. The paper discusses the consequences of telework for the formulation of identities. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on empirical work, which comprises home visits to teleworkers and therefore includes observational data and interview data. The data are analysed following a particular framework, which is views discourse as a “strategic resource” and draws on the vocabulary of performativity and connectivity to investigate why some “discursive acts” take successfully while others fail. Findings – It is shown that teleworkers and their households need to engage in strategies to protect and reconfirm their respective identities. This is achieved through the enactment of regulatory as well as self-regulatory (identity) acts. Originality/value – The paper is located in the household of teleworkers and therefore, includes this less well researched perspective. The linking of the conceptual framework (strategic resource) with the location of the study in the household in order to investigate the theme “identity” is an innovative feature, which shows that (internal) self-regulatory identity acts are equally or even more important than (external) regulatory acts.

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