Abstract
The conceptualization of taboo within international relations (IR)—that is, what we understand to be taboo—is inadequate. Specifically, current analysis fails to sufficiently distinguish ...between taboo and non-taboo forms of prohibitory norm, where this failure often facilitates a tendency (explicit or implicit) to comprehend the concept primarily in terms of actor compliance with a taboo in question. This understanding is shown here to be analytically unrepresentative and that it sets unrealistic expectations for actor behavior, especially where those expectations are then employed as the foundation of quantifiable conceptual comprehension and study within IR. In response to this critical need for a new understanding of taboo relevant to IR, the article constructs an original analytic model based on disgust, stigmatization, and fetishization. The article additionally outlines the conceptual and methodological implications of adopting this new model, including where it subsequently demonstrates that taboos are more prevalent and more influential than certain sectors of the IR discipline have previously given them credit for.
Unemployment may severely impede access to (good) jobs. We focus on the effects of unemployment scarring on the chances of young workers to get hired and evaluate the extent to which they are ...affected in labor markets with different levels of unemployment. Drawing on Goffman’s work on stigmatization and on queuing theory, we derive two potentially complementary micro-level explanations with opposing macro-level implication. We address the variation in unemployment scarring across 20 labor markets in four European countries based on factorial survey experiments embedded in real hiring situations. The results suggest that in labor markets with persistently low levels of unemployment, stigmatization, as proposed by Goffman, is the main source of unemployment scarring. We find no evidence that unemployment scarring is weaker when unemployment and the number of job seekers are low, as we inferred from queuing approaches. Our study contributes to expanding knowledge of context variability in unemployment scarring.
The emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic in Ghana has resulted in various degrees of stigmatization. Previous studies have stressed the need for developing policies to curb the stigma towards ...COVID-19 survivors and healthcare workers. Some have investigated the knowledge and willingness of people to accept COVID-19 survivors. Others have also explored the experiences of health workers who have been victims of stigma from COVID-19. There is a need for further studies to understand COVID-19 related stigma and related psychological distress. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cases of COVID-19 related stigma and discrimination against healthcare workers, COVID-19 recovered patients, suspected persons of COVID-19, Asians, and persons with travel history from COVID-19 hotspot countries. The study was undertaken using the phenomenology approach to qualitative research. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used in recruiting the twenty-eight study participants. Data were garnered using interviews and focus group discussions. Data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings revealed that COVID-19 victims have faced various forms of stigma such as stereotyping, social exclusion, mockery, finger-pointing, and insults. The study recommends that the COVID-19 National Response Team in Ghana must put in place a robust psychosocial intervention plan for stigmatized persons to help them cope with the stigma and help in its prevention.
•COVID-19 victims face stigmatization in the form of social rejection and verbal abuse.•COVID-19 stigma victims face psychological distress that could lead to worsened health conditions.•Intensive public health education as well and a well-developed psychosocial intervention plan would help deal with COVID-19 stigma.
Since its introduction as a concept, organizational stigma has become central to explaining how organizations or industries become tainted, and how they overcome and manage such taint. In this ...introduction to the Special Issue on organizational stigma, we start by exploring the origins of the concept, providing basic definitions and reviewing the existing research on stigmatization, stigma transfer and experienced stigma. The papers in this issue flesh out our understanding of what causes organizational stigma and its implications at different levels. The remainder of this introduction takes stock of this recent work to explore future research opportunities around the micro‐ and macro‐foundations of organizational stigma, the links with scandals, controversies and other negative social evaluations and research methods. As the concept of organizational stigma reaches a new stage, we argue that its explanatory power can be harnessed to explore new and increasingly relevant phenomena and contexts.
Terrorism has the potential to divide societies. It is particularly relevant to investigate how Islamist terrorism on social media is associated with Muslim minorities’ attitudes and behaviors. This ...study examined how seeing terrorism on social media relates to Muslim minority individuals’ perceived stigmatization. We further investigated how perceived stigmatization translates to social media behaviors, namely, terror-related online self-disclosure and correction of false information about religion. A survey among German Muslims ( N = 432) showed that social media use for information about terrorism was positively associated with perceived stigmatization. This relationship was moderated by individuals’ national identity, but not religious identity. Perceived stigmatization, in turn, positively predicted terror-related online self-disclosure and correction of false information about religion. The findings accentuate the role of social media use for minorities to cope and stand up for their in-group in the face of terror.
In this paper I develop a new explanation that furthers our understanding of why whistleblowers are frequently hated and stigmatized. I call into question the implicit assumption in the literature ...that whistleblowers are hated and stigmatized exclusively because they represent the ‘other’. Instead, I take a different view and argue that, especially where staff have a moral commitment to their work, whistleblowers may also be felt to be problematic because they unconsciously represent the lost good ‘self’ of staff members. I draw on Kleinian psychoanalytic ideas in developing theory, and use the crisis at the Mid Staffordshire National Health Service Trust in the UK as a contemporary case illustration. This paper contributes to the whistleblower literature as well as to the literature that applies psychoanalytic ideas to the study of management and organization, and it also identifies areas for future research.
Marketing studies highlight the importance of recognizing different cultures and suggest that race plays an integral role in the functioning and ideological underpinnings of marketplace actions. ...Nevertheless, this role remains understudied in research on online consumer-to-consumer (C2C) interactions. Guided by extant literature and drawing on critical race theory, this study conducts two experimental studies that show how the race of online consumer reviewers influences other consumers’ interpretation of the quality of the reviews. This study contributes to the marketing literature by extending the existing knowledge of racial stigmatization and bias found in marketing communications to C2C exchanges. An understanding of the role, scope, and impact of consumer-driven stigmatization is of growing importance due to the growing empowerment of consumers in the business ecosystem. Regulatory frameworks are designed to protect consumers from unfair market practices on the part of firms and businesses. However, C2C interaction is a largely unregulated territory where our study demonstrates that entrenched racial stigmatization may still exist. The study findings reveal important implications and directions for future research.
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