Exploring Religious Practice in Crisis: A non-Western tension-centred approach to meaningful work

TY - JOUR

T1 - Exploring Religious Practice in Crisis

T2 - A non-Western tension-centred approach to meaningful work

AU - Vu, Mai C.

AU - Fan, Ziyun

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024/9/26

Y1 - 2024/9/26

N2 - This study develops a religious practice(s) approach to explore the tensional nature and process of meaningful work. We first problematize existing workplace spirituality approaches to management and organization studies (MOS) generally and meaningful work specifically. Our focus is the individual-organizational and positive-critical divides and overlooked tensions and in-betweenness within these divides. We propose a religious practice(s) approach as an alternative lens to address this in-betweenness, drawing on the theory and practices of Buddhist emptiness to theorize meaningful work as a tensional process unfolding at the intersection between the gaining and losing of meaningfulness. We explore this tensional in-betweenness empirically through 51 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Buddhist practitioners on their lived experiences of meaningful work during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our findings reveal two realization processes that manifest the tensional in-betweenness of meaningful work during the Covid-19 pandemic, and which entrap and emancipate individuals in their pursuit of meaningful work. Our contribution is threefold. First, we develop a religious practice(s) approach to MOS by addressing the existing divides in workplace spirituality perspectives and the resulting overlooked tensions inherent in experiencing meaningful work. In doing so, we also extend the existing understanding of ‘tension’ in meaningful work, which has predominantly been treated as self-evidential and not yet fully integrated into the theorization of meaningful work. Third, we move away from the over-reliance on Western-centred theories through contextualized theory-building. This, we hope, will develop non-Western theorization in MOS and in turn prompt a more enriched, multidimensional understanding of meaningful work.

AB - This study develops a religious practice(s) approach to explore the tensional nature and process of meaningful work. We first problematize existing workplace spirituality approaches to management and organization studies (MOS) generally and meaningful work specifically. Our focus is the individual-organizational and positive-critical divides and overlooked tensions and in-betweenness within these divides. We propose a religious practice(s) approach as an alternative lens to address this in-betweenness, drawing on the theory and practices of Buddhist emptiness to theorize meaningful work as a tensional process unfolding at the intersection between the gaining and losing of meaningfulness. We explore this tensional in-betweenness empirically through 51 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Buddhist practitioners on their lived experiences of meaningful work during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our findings reveal two realization processes that manifest the tensional in-betweenness of meaningful work during the Covid-19 pandemic, and which entrap and emancipate individuals in their pursuit of meaningful work. Our contribution is threefold. First, we develop a religious practice(s) approach to MOS by addressing the existing divides in workplace spirituality perspectives and the resulting overlooked tensions inherent in experiencing meaningful work. In doing so, we also extend the existing understanding of ‘tension’ in meaningful work, which has predominantly been treated as self-evidential and not yet fully integrated into the theorization of meaningful work. Third, we move away from the over-reliance on Western-centred theories through contextualized theory-building. This, we hope, will develop non-Western theorization in MOS and in turn prompt a more enriched, multidimensional understanding of meaningful work.

KW - Covid-19 pandemic

KW - meaningful work

KW - non-Western theory

KW - religious practice

KW - tension

KW - workplace spirituality

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85207104742&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/01708406241290040

DO - 10.1177/01708406241290040

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85207104742

SN - 0170-8406

JO - Organization Studies

JF - Organization Studies

ER -