Professor Melissa Tyler
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Email
mjtyler@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 874112
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Location
EBS.3.81, Colchester Campus
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Academic support hours
You can find details of Academic Support hours on the EBS UG and PG information page on Moodle or by calling EBS Student Services on 01206873911
Profile
Biography
My research focuses largely on gender, feminist theory and the body in work and organisational settings; emotion, aesthetics and sexuality in the workplace, and organisational space, place and materiality, and on precarious work in the creative and cultural sector. I am co-chair of a Gender, Work and Organization Judith Butler research network - please get in touch if you are interested in joining. I welcome inquiries from potential PhD students and research collaborators on a variety of topics, including: * Gender and LGBT inequality in the workplace * Feminist thinking and critical theories of work and organization * Space, place and workplace settings * Embodied experiences and perceptions of work, particularly relating to emotion, aesthetics and/or sexuality at work * Freelance/self-employed work in the creative and cultural sector
Qualifications
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B Soc Sci (Hons) Cultural Studies
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PG Dip (Research Methods)
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PhD (Sociology)
Appointments
University of Essex
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Professor of Work and Organization Studies, Essex Business School, University of Essex (1/1/2011 - present)
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Co-Director of the Centre for Work, Organisation and Society, Essex Business School, University of Essex (1/1/2019 - present)
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Associate Director of Research and Impact, OS/HRM group, University of Essex (1/2011 - present)
Other academic
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Associate Editor, Organization (3/9/2022 - present)
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Member of the Distinguished Advisory Board, Gender, Work and Organization (9/2007 - present)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Feminist perspectives on work and organization
Gender, sexuality and embodiment at work
Organizational space, place, aesthetics and materiality
Emotional, aesthetic and sexualized forms of labour
Sales-service work and consumer culture
Gender, sexuality and the body in work organizations
Any work drawing on and developing feminist theory
The organization, management and lived experience of organizational space, place and setting
Emotional, aesthetic and sexualized labour in sales-service work
Current research
An ethnographic study of sales-service work in licensed and unlicensed sex shops in Soho, London
Lived experiences of gender, sexuality and ageing at work (with Kat Riach and Nick Rumens)
Gender and commemoration in work organizations (with Karen Dale and Leanne Cutcher)
Discrimination and disrespect in the workplace (with Philip Hancock)
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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Organisational Behaviour (BE410)
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Independent Research Project: Management/Marketing (BE939)
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Philosophies of Research and Advanced Qualitative Research Methods (BE968)
Previous supervision
Degree subject: Human Resource Management and Organisation Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 15/3/2024
Degree subject: Management Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 3/10/2023
Publications
Journal articles (44)
Tyler, M. and Riach, K., (2024). “Getting a grip”? Phenomenological insights into handling work place in London’s Soho. Human Relations. 77 (2), 172-199
Hancock, P. and Tyler, M., (2024). Live performers’ experiences of precarity and recognition during Covid-19 and beyond. Work, Employment and Society
Cutcher, L., Riach, K. and Tyler, M., (2022). Splintering Organizational Subjectivities: Older workers and the dynamics of recognition, vulnerability and resistance. Organization Studies. 43 (6), 973-992
Tyler, M. and Hales, S., (2022). Heroism and/as injurious speech: Recognition, precarity and inequality in health and social care work. Gender, Work and Organization. 29 (4), 1199-1218
Noury, L., Ahuja, S., Parker, M., Sturdy, A. and Tyler, M., (2022). In praise of boredom at work. Organization. 29 (5), 791-805
Tyler, M. and Vachhani, SJ., (2021). Chasing rainbows? A recognition-based critique of Primark's precarious commitment to inclusion. Organization. 28 (2), 247-265
Hales, S., Riach, K. and Tyler, M., (2021). Close Encounters: Intimate service interactions in lap dancing work as a nexus of ‘self-others-things’. Organization Studies. 42 (4), 555-574
Hancock, P., Tyler, M. and Godiva, M., (2021). Thursday Night and a Singalong ‘Sung Alone’: The Experiences of a Self-employed Performer During the Pandemic. Work, Employment and Society. 35 (6), 1155-1166
Cutcher, L., Dale, K. and Tyler, M., (2020). Emotion, aesthetics and sexuality at work: Theoretical challenges and future directions. Gender, Work & Organization. 27 (1), 1-5
Cutcher, L., Dale, K. and Tyler, M., (2019). ‘Remembering as Forgetting’: Organizational commemoration as a politics of recognition. Organization Studies. 40 (2), 267-290
Tyler, M., (2019). Reassembling difference? Rethinking inclusion through/as embodied ethics. Human Relations. 72 (1), 48-68
Hales, S., Riach, K. and Tyler, M., (2019). Putting sexualized labour in the picture: Encoding ‘reasonable entitlement’ in the lap dancing industry. Organization. 26 (6), 783-801
Milroy, T., Cutcher, L. and Tyler, M., (2019). Stopped in our tracks: From ‘giving an account’ to an ethics of recognition in feminist praxis. Gender, Work and Organization. 26 (4), 393-410
Tyler, M., (2019). Queer Business: Queering Organization Sexualities by NickRumens. London: Routledge, 2018, 230 pp., ISBN: 978‐1‐138‐81401 (hbk), ISBN: 978‐1‐315‐74778‐1 (ebk).. Gender, Work & Organization. 26 (11), 1661-1664
Tyler, M., (2019). Seduction: Men, Masculinity and Mediated Intimacy by RachelO'Neill. Cambridge: Polity, 2018. pp. 256, Hardback £55.00 €62.19, 978‐1‐509‐52155‐5; Paperback £16.99 €19.21, 978‐1‐509‐52156‐2; Open eBook £16.99 €19.21, 978‐1‐509‐52159‐3. ISBN‐13: 978‐1‐5095‐2155‐5 and ISBN‐13: 978‐1‐5095‐2156‐2. Gender, Work & Organization. 26 (1), 79-82
Duffy, K., Hancock, P. and Tyler, M., (2017). Still Red Hot? Postfeminism and Gender Subjectivity in the Airline Industry. Gender, Work and Organization. 24 (3), 260-273
Riach, K., Rumens, N. and Tyler, M., (2016). Towards a Butlerian methodology: Undoing organizational performativity through anti-narrative research. Human Relations. 69 (11), 2069-2089
Pullen, A., Thanem, T., Tyler, M. and Wallenberg, L., (2016). Postscript: Queer Endings/Queer Beginnings. Gender, Work & Organization. 23 (1), 84-87
Cutcher, L., Dale, K., Hancock, P. and Tyler, M., (2016). Spaces and Places of Remembering and Commemoration. Organization. 23 (1), 3-9
Pullen, A., Thanem, T., Tyler, M. and Wallenberg, L., (2015). Sexual Politics, Organizational Practices: Interrogating Queer Theory, Work and Organization. Gender, Work & Organization. 23 (1), 1-6
Hancock, P., Sullivan, K. and Tyler, M., (2015). A Touch Too Much: Negotiating Masculinity, Propriety and Proximity in Intimate Labour. Organization Studies. 36 (12), 1715-1739
Brewis, J., Tyler, M. and Mills, A., (2014). Sexuality and organizational analysis--30 years on: Editorial introduction. Organization. 21 (3), 305-311
Riach, K., Tyler, M. and Rumens, N., (2014). Un/doing Chrononormativity: Negotiating Ageing, Gender and Sexuality in Organizational Life. Organization Studies. 35 (11), 1677-1698
Tyler, M., (2012). Working in the other Square Mile: performing and placing sexualized labour in Soho's sex shops. Work, Employment & Society. 26 (6), 899-917
Tyler, M., (2011). Tainted love: From dirty work to abject labour in Soho's sex shops. Human Relations. 64 (11), 1477-1500
Tyler, M. and Cohen, L., (2010). Spaces that Matter: Gender Performativity and Organizational Space. Organization Studies. 31 (2), 175-198
Tyler, M., (2009). Behind a painted smile: gendered aesthetics and emotional labour. International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion. 3 (1), 65-71
Tyler, M., (2009). Growing Customers: Sales-service work in the children`s culture industries. Journal of Consumer Culture. 9 (1), 55-77
Hancock, P. and Tyler, M., (2008). Beyond the Confines: Management, Colonization and the Everyday. Critical Sociology. 34 (1), 29-49
Korczynski, M. and Tyler, M., (2008). Introduction. Journal of Consumer Culture. 8 (3), 307-320
Tyler, M. and Cohen, L., (2008). Management in/as Comic Relief: Queer Theory and Gender Performativity in The Office. Gender, Work & Organization. 15 (2), 113-132
Hancock, P. and Tyler, M., (2007). Un/doing Gender and the Aesthetics of Organizational Performance. Gender, Work & Organization. 14 (6), 512-533
Tyler, M. and Wilkinson, A., (2007). The tyranny of corporate slenderness: `corporate anorexia' as a metaphor for our age. Work, Employment and Society. 21 (3), 537-549
Hancock, P. and Tyler, M., (2005). Gibson Burrell: Diabolical Architect. The Sociological Review. 53 (1_suppl), 46-62
Tyler, M., (2005). Women in change management. Journal of Organizational Change Management. 18 (6), 561-577
Russell, R. and Tyler, M., (2005). Branding and Bricolage. Childhood. 12 (2), 221-237
Hancock, P. and Tyler, M., (2004). ‘MOT Your Life’: Critical Management Studies and the Management of Everyday Life. Human Relations. 57 (5), 619-645
Cohen, L. and Tyler, M., (2004). The Office (27 November 2003–18 January 2004), the Photographers’ Gallery, London. Work, Employment and Society. 18 (3), 621-629
Tyler, M., (2004). Managing between the Sheets: Lifestyle Magazines and the Management of Sexuality in Everyday Life. Sexualities. 7 (1), 81-106
Russell, R. and Tyler, M., (2002). Thank Heaven for Little Girls: `Girl Heaven' and the Commercial Context of Feminine Childhood. Sociology. 36 (3), 619-637
Hancock, P. and Tyler, M., (2001). Managing Subjectivity and the Dialectic of Self-Consciousness: Hegel and Organization Theory. Organization. 8 (4), 565-585
Taylor, S. and Tyler, M., (2000). Emotional Labour and Sexual Difference in the Airline Industry. Work, Employment and Society. 14 (1), 77-95
Tyler, M. and Taylor, S., (1998). The Exchange of Aesthetics: Women's Work and ‘The Gift’. Gender, Work & Organization. 5 (3), 165-171
Tyler, M. and Abbott, P., (1998). Chocs Away: Weight Watching in the Contemporary Airline Industry. Sociology. 32 (3), 433-450
Books (7)
Tyler, M., (2019). Judith Butler and Organization Theory. Routledge. 1351673823. 9781351673822
Tyler, M., (2019). Soho at Work: Pleasure and Place in Contemporary London. Cambridge University Press. 1107182735. 9781107182738
Hancock, P. and Tyler, M., (2009). The Management of Everyday Life. Palgrave. 9780230524798
Abbott, P., (2006). An Introduction to Sociology. Routledge. 0415312582. 9781134382453
Abbott, P., Wallace, C. and Tyler, M., (2005). An Introduction to Sociology Feminist Perspectives. Routledge. 0415312590. 9780415312592
Hancock, P. and Tyler, M., (2001). Work, Postmodernism and Organization A Critical Introduction. SAGE. 1847876463. 9781847876461
Hancock, P., (2000). The body, culture, and society an introduction. Open University Press
Book chapters (12)
Hales, S., Galbally, P. and Tyler, M., Lost for words: Difficult conversations about ethics, reflexivity and research governance. In: Difficult Conversations: A Feminist Dialogue. Editors: Ryan-Flood, R., James-Hawkins, L. and Crowhurst, I., . Routledge
Tyler, M., (2023). 'Adventures through alterity': Judith Butler and methodology. In: Handbook of Feminist Research Methodologies in Management and Organization Studies. 39- 54. 9781800377028
Hancock, P. and Tyler, M., (2019). When the shoe is on the Other foot. In: Gender, Embodiment and Fluidity in Organization and Management. Routledge. 25- 41. 9781000753097
Hancock, PG. and Tyler, M., (2018). Make Do and Mend? Working Postfeminism and Vintage. In: Postfeminism and Organization. Editors: Lewis, P., Benschop, Y. and Simpson, Y., . Routledge. 181- 196. 9781138212213
Rumens, N. and Tyler, M., (2015). Towards a Queer Politics and Ethics within Organization Studies. In: The Routledge Companion to Ethics, Politics and Organizations. Editors: Pullen, A. and Rhodes, C., . Routledge. 447- 461. 9780415821261
Tyler, M., (2014). Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986). In: The Oxford Handbook of Process Philosophy and Organization Studies. Editors: Helin, J., Hernes, T., Hjorth, D. and Holt, R., . Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-966935-6
Tyler, M., (2012). 'Glamour Girls, Macho Men and Everything in Between': Un/doing Gender and Dirty Work in Soho's Sex Shops. In: Dirty Work - Concepts and Identities. Editors: Simpson, R., Slutskaya, N., Lewis, P. and Hopfl, H., . Palgrave Connect. 9780230277137
Tyler, M., (2011). Postmodern Feminism and Organization Studies: A Marriage of Inconvenience?. In: Handbook of Gender, Work and Organization. Editors: Jeanes, E., Knights, D. and Yancey Martin, P., . John Wiley & Sons. 9- 24. 9781444394726
Tyler, M. and Cohen, L., (2010). Living and Working in Grey Areas: Gender (In)Visibility and Organization Space. In: Revealing and Concealing Gender. Editors: Lewis, P. and Simpson, R., . Palgrave Macmillan. 23- 38. 9780230212114
Tyler, M., (2009). Managing under the Covers: Lifestyle Media and the Management of Sexuality in Everyday Life. In: The Management of Everyday Life. Editors: Hancock, P. and Tyler, M., . Palgrave Macmillan. 23- 38. 9780230524798
Hancock, PG. and Tyler, M., (2008). Emotion at Work. In: Contemporary Human Resource Management. Editors: Redman, T. and Wilkinson, A., . FT/Prentice Hall. 472- 491. 9780273716334
Hancock, PG. and Tyler, M., (2007). It's All Too Beautiful: Emotion and Organization in the Aesthetic Economy. In: The Emotional Organization: Passions and Power. Editors: Fineman, S., . Wiley-Blackwell. 202- 217. 9781405160308
Conferences (1)
Tyler, M. and Hancock, P., Performing During/After Lockdown: A Study of the Impact of Covid-19 On Live Performers in the UK
Other (1)
Rumens, N. and Tyler, M., (2015).Queer Theory,Routledge
Grants and funding
2023
Creating an equitable and sustainable future for freelance / self-employed workers in the entertainment industry
University of Essex (ESRC IAA)
Evaluation ACE Freelance Study of Cultural Workforce
Arts Council England
Grave matters: An affective ethnography of cemeterial work
British Academy
Creating an equitable and sustainable future for freelance / self-employed workers in the entertainment industry - Impact Leave
University of Essex (QR Impact Fund)
2020
Performing during/after lockdown: A study of the impact of COVID-19 on live performers in the UK
British Academy
Contact
Academic support hours:
You can find details of Academic Support hours on the EBS UG and PG information page on Moodle or by calling EBS Student Services on 01206873911
