The Office Workplace: Communitas and Hierarchical Social Structures

Authors

  • Paul G. Letkemann University of Lethbridge

Keywords:

workplace, occumpation, symbolism, ritual, comunitas, Heirarchy

Abstract

Victor Turner's concept of communitas is being applied to an increasingly diverse number of social situations. Researchers often try to establish the absence of hierarchical or status base structure as a precondition for communitas. The existence of a situational "egalitarianism" is hard to maintain when all social relationships are political. This paper uses excerpts of interviews of civil servants from a small Regional Planning Office in Alberta, Canada. I show the possibility of integrating structural differentiation with the experience of communitas, building on Turner's and related research. This integration helps illustrate the ritual properties in everyday situations, while acknowledging the salience of inherent status and hierarchical distinctions.

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Published

2022-06-15

How to Cite

Letkemann, P. G. (2022). The Office Workplace: Communitas and Hierarchical Social Structures. Anthropologica, 44(2), 257–269. Retrieved from https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/2254

Issue

Vol. 44 No. 2 (2002): Grass-Roots Participation and Bureaucratic Interfaces: The Case of Mexico

Section

Articles

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