The Performativity of Organizational Gender Norms in Saudi Arabia

This study explores how gendered norms are performed in organizations in Saudi Arabia and the boundary work managers engage in when (re)producing a norm. Drawing on 33 semi-structured interviews with firm owners, managers and government representatives in Riyadh, the analysis highlights the fluidity between politics and religion in Saudi Arabia and how this has shaped local regimes of recognition and organizational forms of gendered space. Based on the findings, four interconnected forms of performativity are theorized – precarious, sovereign, hyperbolic and paradoxical performativity. Thereby, this study advances a novel perspective on how the intimate entanglement between cultural and religious norms and laws engenders different forms of performativity through which managers try to pursue an ideal gendered arrangement in the workplace. Future areas for research and practical implications are proposed to deepen the understanding of the interplay between performative agency and organizational dynamics and policies.