The affective labour of inclusion (ALI): gender identity and the making of organisational inclusion

Purpose While extant models usefully highlight belonging, participation, and/or recognition as indicators of the extent to which marginalised workers are included in organisations, inclusion scholarship rarely addresses the affective conditions under which inclusion becomes possible. Focusing on trans* employees, this article analyses affective labour as a constitutive feature of organisational inclusion. Design/methodology/approach The article builds a conceptual framework by deploying affect theory to reorient inclusion scholarship in relation to research on trans* workplace experiences. Findings Inclusion is an ongoing accomplishment dependent on affective labour. Because affective labour is differentially allocated, and thus extractive, inclusion remains politically fractious and organisationally unstable. Originality/value The article introduces affective labour of inclusion as a lens for analysing the emergent organisational significance of repeated interactional adjustments in sustaining inclusion.