Hidden Transcripts of Flight Attendant Resistance

Abstract

This work builds on past research through a critical discussion of individuals' resistant actions, that is, their ability to enact change within their social systems. Although employees may appear to comply fully with constraining organizational policies and meanings in public discourse, alternative meanings may be constructed in private. Using examples of flight attendant resistance, the author analyzes hidden transcripts-the interactions, stories, myths, and rituals in which employees participate beyond the direct observation of power holders to provide an avenue to identify resistance and change in the organizing process. Such an understanding challenges the outdated ideal of transmissional meaning, questions organizational power by including the potential for resistance and change, and surfaces hidden constraints and resistances in employee discourse.