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Mask(ing) Emotion: Social Symbolic Objects as Catalysts of Emotion Work in Social Movement Organizations

Amir Keshtiban et al.

Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry2025https://doi.org/10.7206/tamara.1532-5555.28article
AJG 1
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

Social symbolic objects, such as masks, can powerfully shape and transform emotions within and about organizations. In this article, we examine how social movement organizations (SMOs) use artifacts to trigger emotion work by members and audiences. Using Twitter engagement data referencing the Guy Fawkes mask as adopted by Anonymous and Occupy during their peak years, we identified three outcomes of artifact use: new member recruitment, heightened public alienation, and creation/consolidation of a collective member identity. Our findings extend theories of emotion cycles of resistance in social movements (Sandlin & Callahan, 2009) and sensemaking of organizational artifacts (Rafaeli & Vilnai-Yavetz, 2004) by demonstrating how social symbolic objects operationalize these theories. A key value of the integrative framework we offer lies in providing clarity on how emotion work practices using artifacts influence both internal and external actors in SMOs.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.7206/tamara.1532-5555.28

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@article{amir2025,
  title        = {{Mask(ing) Emotion: Social Symbolic Objects as Catalysts of Emotion Work in Social Movement Organizations}},
  author       = {Amir Keshtiban et al.},
  journal      = {Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.7206/tamara.1532-5555.28},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.