File(s) under permanent embargo
The competing discourses of workplace health
journal contribution
posted on 2006-01-01, 00:00 authored by Steven AllenderSteven Allender, D Colquhoun, Peter KellyThis article presents an analysis of workplace health programme discourses within an international information technology company. Discourse refers to a system of statements that share a common force and coherence and which are socially constitutive. The representation of entities such as workplace health can be subject to competition between discourses. A critical discourse analysis was undertaken on semi-structured interviews, participant observation and workplace health programme documents. Two competing discourses were identified: health as safety and health as lifestyle. Each discourse is described and shown to both implicitly and explicitly define health within this particular workplace. Lifestyle discourse encouraged moves towards linking of the employees' working and private lives while safety discourse defined health in the relationship between workers and their physical environment. Competition between discourses both constricts and opens spaces for alternative understandings of health in the workplace. The implications of this competition for workplace health policy and practice are discussed.
History
Journal
Health : an interdisciplinary journal for the social study of health, illness and medicineVolume
10Issue
1Pagination
75 - 93Publisher
SageLocation
Thousand Oaks, Calif.Publisher DOI
ISSN
1363-4593eISSN
1461-7196Language
engPublication classification
C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2006, SAGE PublicationsUsage metrics
Categories
Keywords
critical discourse analysisdiscourselifestyleoccupational healthsafetyScience & TechnologySocial SciencesLife Sciences & BiomedicinePublic, Environmental & Occupational HealthSocial Sciences, BiomedicalBiomedical Social SciencesEMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMSCOMMUNITY INVOLVEMENTPROMOTION PROGRAMSCOSTCAMPAIGNPOLICYNAZISSociology