ABSTRACT

This chapter presents liminality in the organizational field moving from changes in work processes to identify four main avenues of investigation: liminality across organizational borders, liminality as contingent work, liminality within an organization, and liminality as the pursuit of plural careers. A notable characteristic of liminality in teams is the relevance of leadership, which is interconnected with the guidance needed to cope with, and survive, in extreme situations. In the organizational perspective, the outcomes of liminality take on a peculiar nuance. The flourishing of organizational studies on liminality is intertwined with the changing nature of work processes. The dramatic and manifold changes in work modalities that have prompted or fostered the diffusion of experiences that resonate with the concept of liminality. Organizational learning is partly driven by the identity work of boundary spanners, who, positioning themselves across organizations, are deemed to be liminal.