Understanding Gender in an Australian Trade Union. An Analysis Using Joan Ackers Theory of Gendered Organizations

Abstract

Profoundly impactful and enduring, Joan Acker’s framework of gendering processes is among the most influential and highly cited in feminist organization studies. Nonetheless, it has been rarely applied, only partially so in the majority of cases and never operationalised fully in a union. This thesis applies the framework, operating through all five dimensions, to one atypical Australian union, having women in three of the most senior elected positions. It seeks to understand the gendering assumptions and practices that construct, maintain and frame the underlying relations in its structures. Voice centred relational analysis was used to examine life history interviews with women and men and my own in-depth ethnographic account of organizational life. The analysis suggests that the union was infused with a particularly authoritarian hegemonic masculinity but that this was hidden from public view. In this context, having women in senior positions worked to disguise continuing inequalities. The major contribution of this study is the in-depth understanding of gender in the context of an Australian union, through what is a rare and insightful application of Joan Acker’s framework for analysing gendered organizations in its entirety.