Book clubs that employ fiction are
encouraging members to ask “what it means to be human”
the book becomes a
popular cultural artefact acting as a “public space” for critical, non-formal learning and
“understanding of marginalized others and greater critical social awareness”
communally through literature can thus change minds and shape
the identities of readers, inspire their social activism, and encourage experiences of social and
intellectual exploration (Eberly, 2000; Farr and Harker, 2008) in the workplace and beyond.
text becomes a conduit of cultural information (Long, 1992) as group members seek ways of
initiating and navigating workplace culture.
Book clubs are “spaces where members share lives, histories, and
feelings”
and serve as a unique community building exercise that,
according to Rehberg Sedo (2011), likely does not exist for people in other contexts.
book
discussion gives way to significant self-disclosure that has therapeutic qualities with women
supporting and encouraging each other
For marginalized members of a workplace, friendships can serve as spaces of
social support that challenge internalized notions of inferiority and propel individuals’ personal
and professional growth because of the way they fulfill unmet psychological needs (Kaeppel et
al., 2020). This makes the need for spaces like book clubs that foster relationship formation
among colleagues critically important.
Social connection with others can be difficult, particularly for newcomers who may lack
confidence or social familiarity in an organization, but book clubs can be an opportune space for
learning to converse constructively with colleagues
Book club members get to
know one another and over time develop a sense of everyone’s professional and personal
experiences and philosophical perspectives
book clubs have long been considered a site of learning,
particularly for those that are historically excluded from traditional forms of education, including
white women and people of color
transferring, in the case of book clubs, their
reading of the text to professional experiences
shared reading helped members negotiate their professional
identities as they create collaborative exchanges of knowledge and the use of self-reflective
practices. This kind of non-formal learning resembles a community of practice (CoP)
Spurred by the text,
members begin to question their existing mental models and counter the dominant systems and
hegemonic practices in their organizations and society. The egalitarian nature of the book clubs
helps to facilitate cultural change processes because shared reading spaces “challenge what is
understood as 'proper' knowledge” and because within them “moral grounds are flattened, and
we make ourselves open to being 'wrong' as a component in re-making knowledge”
Book club members use texts and subsequent
discussions to learn as they work through, reflect on, or address the social or political issues they
encounter in their lives
reading “can never be divorced from questions of power, privilege, exclusion, and
social distinction”
For white women and people of color in particular, book clubs may also provide a safer
place of such dissent than their standard workplace setting
women’s identity development in reading communities where Howie (2011: 153) describes book
clubs as a site of dissent and consciousness-raising which enabled women “to speak, imagine or
live alternative subjective positions that are relevant to their own changing needs and interests”.
how participation
facilitated women’s networking in four work-based book clubs in the UK and the USA, Alsop
(2015) found that overwhelmingly, involvement resulted in positive networking in members’
workplaces. This was due to the connections made in the book clubs that countered feelings of
exclusion the women often experienced in their organization
book club provided members access to valuable organizational knowledge and information
created a community of reciprocity in the workplace as the women helped and supported one
another.
Reading is, as Twomey (2007) contends, a form of resistance,
book clubs help
members to navigate with others the experiences of marginalization.
Black women’s book clubs not only provide a community in which women can
share their enjoyment of literature and develop close relationships with like-minded
women, but most crucially they provide a safe space in a society that continues to
struggle with issues of racism and sexism, allowing Black women to critique society,
build community, and negotiate a sense of self.
Given
the few spaces available in organizations for prolonged and intimate perspective building, where
dissent is welcomed, the seemingly simple act of reading and discussing a text in a book club
becomes incredibly powerful.
Book clubs facilitate inclusion by simultaneously connecting employees from a range of
departments while breaking down silos and minimizing workplace hierarchies
As an unconventional means of creating a human connection in organizations, these
spaces may prove valuable for any employee, but may be especially useful to those who struggle
to establish relationships, are more reserved and introspective, or those who find traditional
networking spaces unwelcoming.
