Body of Work

How is the body organised? How is organising embodied?

The Body of Work project seeks to enrich our understanding of embodied experiences associated with work, and of practices that marginalise the bodies of certain groups. Although underrepresented in organisation studies, knowledge of how the body affects one’s work, and how work affects the body, is crucial to shaping inclusive policies, practices and career pathways.

Recent research in health sciences and psychology considers the damaging effects of discrimination, showing that people who experience this type of unfavourable treatment have increased risk of physical health conditions, impaired cognitive function (Murphy et al. 2012) and poorer mental health (Berger and Sarnyai 2014, Steptoe and Jackson 2019, see also Lewis et al. 2015). This has revealed the urgency of gaining further understanding within management and organisation studies of how work practices affect the body (Pullen and Rhodes 2014) – in particular for those with protected characteristics including gender, maternity, race, (dis)ability and age, or with two or more intersecting forms of oppression.

This series of four one-day events entitled ‘The Body of Work’ combined seminars and workshops to advance knowledge and give visibility to topics related to the body which are under-represented in the field of organisation studies, and in organisations. By bringing together academics and practitioners in the third sector, it fostered the development of an online and offline network to explore topics linking peoples' professional and personal experiences.

Here you'll find open access and a growing bank of materials – including videos, academic references, presentations and other supporting documents. Please feel free to use these in your staff training, teaching and everyday conversations.