Queering Control and Inclusion in the Contemporary Organization: On ‘LGBT-friendly control’ and the reproduction of (queer) value

The paper problematizes the emergence of ‘LGBT-friendly organizations’ by examining the nascent forms of control that accompany efforts at including ‘diverse’ gender/sexual subjects in the workplace. Drawing on qualitative material collected through 25 semi-structured and in-depth ‘ethnographic interviews’ with LGBT employees who work in an ‘LGBT-friendly organization’, presented through three case studies, I argue that control in LGBT-friendly organizations operates through expectations and normativities concerning how gender/sexuality are supposed to be put to work in the (re)production of ‘queer value’. This contributes to our understanding of organizational control by thinking inclusion and control in a way which acknowledges the complicities between cultural norms and economic questions of value. I conclude by reflecting on what this can tell us about new and inclusive forms of organizing and the importance of remaining attuned to how financial imperatives control gender/sexuality by producing ‘diverse subjects’ tailored to its own needs.