Author ORCID Identifier
Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Communication Studies
Committee Chair
Matthew Martin
Committee Co-Chair
Sharon Hayes
Committee Member
Katie Kang
Committee Member
Christine Kunkle
Abstract
This dissertation disrupts at least two religious spaces: First, scholars religiously adhering to (social) scientific norms, and second, people identifying with religious organizations (i.e., churches). First, we begin constructing a theoretical lens using poststructural ideas offered by Foucault, Derrida, and Bakhtin to read and disrupt (religious) discourse. Second, we complicate organizational identification as a concept, deeming it fixed and fluid—a paradox within religious discourses that endorse Truth and Perfection. Here, we draw from the communication constitutes organization (CCO) approach. Third, we further curate the lens by applying poststructuralism, identification, and CCO in a specific context: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Church). Doing so enables Restorationism—a fixed-fluid theoretical technique for scrutinizing identification paradoxes in religious spaces. Fourth, we try Restorationism on 89 addresses to reveal contradictions of organizational identification within The Church, followed by discussions of the (dis)organizing effect of language, including Scripture, on identity. Throughout the dissertation, we challenge (social) scientific norms—faithful to postmodernism—through performance techniques, including poetry, courtroom scenes, images, metaphors, and embodied discussions. Doing so, along with speculations on (religious organizational) identification, rouses at least three questions, including (1) who am I; (2) where did I come from; and (3) where am I going?
Recommended Citation
Stratton, Casey M., "Organizing (Eternal) Identity and Identification: An Upward Glance into Religious Institutions" (2023). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 11986.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/11986
Included in
Biblical Studies Commons, Business and Corporate Communications Commons, Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Christianity Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Discourse and Text Linguistics Commons, Epistemology Commons, Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons, New Religious Movements Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, Organizational Communication Commons, Organization Development Commons, Performance Studies Commons, Poetry Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons