Struggling with Meaningfulness when Context Shifts: Volunteer Work in a German Refugee Shelter

• Date: 01 May 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12410
• Published date: 01 May 2019

© 2018 Society for the Adv ancement of Managment St udies and John Wiley & Son s Ltd

Struggling with Meaningfulness when Context Shifts:

Volunteer Work in a German Refugee Shelter

Mona Floriana, Jana Costasa and Dan Kärremanb

aEuropean Unive rsity Via drina; bCo penhage n Busine ss School

ABST RACT This art icle draws on an ethnographic study of volunteer work in a Ger man

refugee shelter to explore how indiv idual experiences of meaningf ulness are intertwined w ith

shifti ng discursive and organisat ional contexts. At the beginn ing of the so-called refugee cr isis,

societal dis courses portrayed this volunteer work as extr aordinarily meanin gful – a state we

capture through t he metaphor of ‘overf low’. This ‘overf low’ mobilised volunteers and was an

important point of reference for fram ing their work experiences as meanin gful. Later, shifting

discursive a nd organisational contexts cha llenged their framings. I nstead of letting go,

however, the ‘overflow’ tr iggered volunteers to reframe their experience i n dysfunctional ways

in order to sustain t heir sense of meaningful ness. Th is paper reveals how shifting societ al

discourses feed into i ndividual experiences of meani ngfulness, shows how individua ls may

respond to such shift s in problematic ways and theorises the natur e of such shifts in drawing on

Swidler’s notion of set tling contexts.

Keywo rds: meanin gful work, refugees, settled and u nsettled contexts, societal di scourses,

volunteer wor k

INTRODUCTION

Most types of work are thought to suffer from a sca rcity of meaningfulness, w ith negative

consequences for motivation, commitment, and wellbeing (M ichaelson et al., 2014; Pratt

and Ashforth, 20 03), engagement (Kahn, 1990; May et al., 200 4), and job performance

(Rodell, 2013). Extant research has thus been ma inly interested in how and when indi-

viduals experience meaningful ness (Chalofsky, 2003; Lips-Wiersma and Morris, 2017;

Rosso et al., 2010) and how organisations can help to create this exp erience (Michaelson

et al., 2014; Steger, 2017).

In our paper, we adopt a more socialised and situated understanding of meaning-

fulness in order to theorise how individuals frame their work as meaningful in relation

Journal of Man agement Studi es 56:3 May 2019

do i: 10 .1111/jo ms. 12410

Address for re prints: Mona F lorian, Faculty of Busi ness Administ ration and Economics, Eu ropean University

Viadri na, Große Scharrnst raße 59, 15230 Frankfurt (Ode r), Germany (florian @europa-uni.de).

590 M. Florian et al.

© 2018 Society for the Adv ancement of Managment St udies and John Wiley & Son s Ltd

to shifting societal discourses. In order to explore how shifting societal discourses and

individual experiences of meaningfulness are intertwined, we draw on an extensive par-

ticipant observation study in a German refugee shelter during the so-called refugee crisis

in 2015 and 2016, focusing on volunteer work. In exploring this case, we will show how

societal discourses about meaningful work can become significant points of reference for

individual constructions of meaningfulness – something that can become problematic

when the discursive and organisational context of work is shifting.

We seek to contribute to the literature in three ways: First, we develop the metaphor of

‘overflow’ of meaningfulness, which resonates with the emerging literature on potential

dark sides of ‘too much’ meaningfulness (Bailey et al., 2017). The metaphor captures

how societal discourses provide purpose and significance in abundance, by casting cer-

tain types of work as extraordinarily meaningful. Metaphoric theorizing allows us to

highlight the particularities of the phenomenon under study, compare it to other similar

phenomena and create new understanding (Cornelissen, 2005, p. 751).

Second, we show how societal discourses feed into individual experiences of meaning-

fulness, especially when they shift. The paper reveals how the ‘overflow’ can be a strong

pull to undertake a work activity, but also highlights the potential of ‘flowing over’ when

societal discourses and the organisational context of work shift. Then, we argue, it can

trigger individuals to reframe their work and work environment in order to sustain their

sense of meaningfulness – with problematic consequences for themselves, their work and

organisations, e.g., overwork, conflict, rigidity, and resistance to professionalisation.

Third, we theorise why individuals respond to shifting contexts in dysfunctional

ways by drawing on Swidler’s (1986) concepts of unsettled and settled circumstances.

Unsettled periods lack appropriate templates for action. Consequently, people draw on

explicit ideas – in our case the ‘overflow’ – to get guidance. When the context is settling,

habit and conformism substitutes for ideas to guide action (p. 281), which challenges

individuals’ sense of meaningfulness derived from the ‘overflow’. While some are able to

align their sense of meaningfulness with the changed work realities, others are unable to

let go and find alternate ways of conceptualising their work in order to match their sense

of meaningfulness, with the aforementioned consequences.

In developing these arguments, our paper contributes to the emerging literature on

the impact of shifting organisational and societal contexts on meaningfulness and adds a

sociological perspective to the literature on the dark sides of meaningfulness.

MEANINGFULNESS IN SHIFTING CONTEXTS

Meaningfu lness – defined as an inherently positive ‘subjective experience of the ex is-

tential signi ficance or purpose’ (Lips-Wiersma and Morris, 2009; see also P ratt and

Ashforth, 2003) – ha s been related to several favourable individual (A rnold et al., 2007;

Bassi et al., 2013; Hackman and Oldham, 1976; Isaksen, 2000) a nd organisational

outcomes (Britt et al., 2001; Chen and Li, 2013). The extant literature on meaning-

fulness prima rily advances from a ps ychological understanding of the matter focusing

on the level of the individual. Accordingly, the central issue in the literature i s how

and when individuals exper ience meaningfu lness and how management can help that