Prior research has primarily focussed on outlining discursive work within events that have enjoyed a strong field mandate. The present study extends this body of knowledge by outlining discursive work within a weak field mandate event, that is, the nature of discursive work in an event which served as a networking space wherein disparate actors, who did not necessarily enjoy field-level positions of legitimacy or could not assume larger field support, congregated to explore the development of field-level projects and actions. The paper examines a conference on “Enabling access for persons with disabilities to higher education and workplace: Role of ICT and assistive technologies” held in January of 2012 in Bangalore, India.
The sources of data include the verbatim transcript of the conference, a journal comprising 67 invited articles and a compact disk (web accessibility guide), that were made public during the conference. Findings highlight three discursive mechanisms -- discursive clarity, discursive alignment, and discursive coordination. Clarity was brought about through definitions of terminologies (e.g., what is accessibility) and reifying issues (e.g., why it is an important issue). Further, event-specific discourse was aligned with macro societal discourses. Actors aligned event-specific conversations with broader societal narratives as they evoked the national sentiment and referred to India-specific solutions. Finally, discursive coordination was brought about by ensuring consistency in beliefs and actions aimed at achieving the event goal of accessibility as actors engaged in collective deliberations and co-creations of artifacts that aided deliberations.
Boundaries of contemporary organisations are not always distinct, and alternate forms of organising are gaining popularity as they influence institutional conditions. As we study various forms of organising such as field-level events, we can outline how institutional demands are framed and conveyed through different field-level processes, some of which are extra-organisational. Further, cases such as the present one can further our understanding of the broader field of management studies.
