11711: The Inclusionary Effects of Work: A Practice-Theoretical Study of Airport Security Work (session 25916)

In contrast to inclusion studies that often treat work as a neutral, passive background, this study seeks to theorize the active role of work in creating a more inclusive organization. We adopt a practice-theoretical approach that examines the practicing of work through its discourses, embodiment, and material arrangements, critically analyzing both their inclusionary and exclusionary effects. Through an ethnographic study of an airport security company, we found that work-related ends – safety and hospitality – played a crucial role in the local, situated creation of a collective among employees, recognition of individual contributions, and emergence of egalitarian relationships between security agents. Building on these findings, we discuss how work-related ends can serve as a key place for inclusion interventions, introducing the concept of ‘field of intelligible actions’ as a central explanation. We further revisit the role of HR-related inclusion practices and forms of inclusive leadership in relation to intelligible actions, while emphasizing the importance of material arrangements in facilitating such actions.

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