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The absence of women’s voices in Hofstede’s Cultural Consequences: A Postcolonial Reading

Moulettes, Agneta LU (2007) In Women in Management Review 22(6). p.443-455
Abstract
Embedded in the Western scientific rationality Hofstede’s methodological approach is constructed on a quantitative method characterized by a carefully selected sample of well educated white ‘men’ from the middle classes working for the same company and sharing similar occupation. The appointment of these men as the norm for national culture might mislead one to believe that Hofstede perceive of culture as equally distributed among men and women. Considering that he has dedicated one of his five dimensions to gender and constructed his model on a bipolar distinction between Masculinity and Femininity this is clearly not the case. Instead it shows that he has a distinct understanding of the differences between masculinity and femininity... (More)
Embedded in the Western scientific rationality Hofstede’s methodological approach is constructed on a quantitative method characterized by a carefully selected sample of well educated white ‘men’ from the middle classes working for the same company and sharing similar occupation. The appointment of these men as the norm for national culture might mislead one to believe that Hofstede perceive of culture as equally distributed among men and women. Considering that he has dedicated one of his five dimensions to gender and constructed his model on a bipolar distinction between Masculinity and Femininity this is clearly not the case. Instead it shows that he has a distinct understanding of the differences between masculinity and femininity which he uses for his construction of national cultures. This raises the following question; Is the absence of women’s own voices in Hofstede’s theory reducing them to objects of patriarchy in order to maintain men’s power positions in the globalized economy? The aim of my paper is to discuss these and similar questions from a postcolonial angle. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Critical management, cross-cultural studies, gender
in
Women in Management Review
volume
22
issue
6
pages
443 - 455
publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
external identifiers
  • scopus:34548161873
ISSN
0964-9425
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4ec00aea-71d4-4cc7-bf9d-5b922bfd2a37 (old id 1386830)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 12:12:11
date last changed
2022-02-13 22:31:20
@article{4ec00aea-71d4-4cc7-bf9d-5b922bfd2a37,
  abstract     = {{Embedded in the Western scientific rationality Hofstede’s methodological approach is constructed on a quantitative method characterized by a carefully selected sample of well educated white ‘men’ from the middle classes working for the same company and sharing similar occupation. The appointment of these men as the norm for national culture might mislead one to believe that Hofstede perceive of culture as equally distributed among men and women. Considering that he has dedicated one of his five dimensions to gender and constructed his model on a bipolar distinction between Masculinity and Femininity this is clearly not the case. Instead it shows that he has a distinct understanding of the differences between masculinity and femininity which he uses for his construction of national cultures. This raises the following question; Is the absence of women’s own voices in Hofstede’s theory reducing them to objects of patriarchy in order to maintain men’s power positions in the globalized economy? The aim of my paper is to discuss these and similar questions from a postcolonial angle.}},
  author       = {{Moulettes, Agneta}},
  issn         = {{0964-9425}},
  keywords     = {{Critical management; cross-cultural studies; gender}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{443--455}},
  publisher    = {{Emerald Group Publishing Limited}},
  series       = {{Women in Management Review}},
  title        = {{The absence of women’s voices in Hofstede’s Cultural Consequences: A Postcolonial Reading}},
  volume       = {{22}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}