Bringing the shadow out: a first-person inquiry on wholeness explored through the (un) silenced narratives of a Kenyan woman working in multinational organisations

Building on the observation that humans are fundamentally storytellers, this thesis explores a re-imagination and reproduction of the self as mediated through a shared and participatory narrative. Focusing on the experiences of a Kenyan woman working in multinational organisations, this first-person inquiry provides a perspective on action inquiry informed by an African epistemology of Utu. It reveals the invisible work done to be in relation with others while negotiating subtle power relations, constructions of gender, the multi-layered politics of difference and identity within organisations, and the moments of choice.
In this thesis, the transformative potential of storytelling as an aesthetic and intellectual practice of reflection is used to question dominant paradigms that hinder relational work and contribute to a felt sense of fragmentation and alienation in the multinational workplace. Utu is suggested as important to negotiating the bordering spaces of personhood and identity in the workplace. This work casts a hopeful tone over the controversial and radical practice of critical Human Resource management.