Non-binary individuals, visibility and legitimacy at work: future crafting inclusive organisations in times of inclusion hysteresis

Abstract

Non-binary gender identity is central to political and organisational progress towards and backlash against the inclusion of non-binary individuals. We conceptualised the tension between progress and backlash and coined the term, inclusion hysteresis, to frame this period of tension. Drawing on a dramaturgical approach, we studied the experiences of 30 non-binary individuals at work. We identified how non-binary individuals’ experiences are shaped by their counter-narratives for inclusion and dominant narratives of backlash, fuelled by populist campaigns of moral panics, phobias, and exclusion. We offer a theoretical extension by revealing how to overcome inclusion hysteresis through future crafting. We make a practical contribution by operationalising future crafting to help HR professionals overcome populist dominant narratives and design inclusive organisational practices and routines with non-binary individuals, drawing on their counter-narratives of inclusion.