How employee activists tackle societal issues by promoting organizational discourse-practice alignment

This chapter discusses the emerging phenomenon of employee prosocial activism, which we define as the direct action of employees of an organization, in support of or in opposition to one side of a sociopolitically controversial issue, that leverages the organization’s purpose and/or values to effect positive change in terms of broad social interests. The phenomenon has not only been increasingly practised but also commented on positively by major publications, such as the Financial Times, positioning it as an important aspect of business today. Such positioning deploys organizational resources to organize action that exceeds an organization’s current practices and structures. We discuss those factors that are generative of such activist movements and detail the processes of employee activist action.