Imperfect reflections: using the carnival to identify transformative employee voice practices

While the mainstream HRM and OB literature argues that more active employee voice can democratise organisations, critical commentators contend that democratising effects are not possible without a wide-scale transformation of capitalist relations. In this paper, we offer an analytical framework that can be used for a more nuanced understanding of the potential of employee voice initiatives to democratise organisations. The framework is inspired by the carnival – a widely used social practice that simultaneously reproduces and alters existing social order. The application of the framework can help identify limited but nonetheless tangible democratising effects that can occur without a major shift in the organisational hierarchy and structure. We illustrate the application of the framework using a case of an employee voice initiative in a mid-size Iranian oil company. The case demonstrates the identification of three categories of practices within an employee voice initiative, each with a different democratising potential.