"Introduction: From the Editor" by Kevin R. Murphy--response

I just read the 2 page "Introduction: From the Editor" that starts out Industrial and Organizational Psychology Vol 6, and I learned some interesting things:

• Kevin R. Murphy is a new editor (1)
• He wants the journal to challenge "the field to think about new issues or new approaches to familiar issues" (1)
• He thinks that science and practice goes hand and hand, and he encourages those who submit to consider this (1)
• The journal is organized each issue with 2 focal articles and then shorter responses to the articles (1)
• In this issue, the second focal article is about marginalized employees with 12 responses following (2)

Perhaps it's the historian wanna-be in me, but I find this front material to the journal very interesting.  It looks like Murphy is trying to be really political in his choice of articles and responses, and he wants to push the boundaries of the field rather than only reinforce them.  Maybe all journal editors say this, but t he presence of 13 articles about identity politics and marginalization can't be common in most journals--I'd say that Murphy appears to really be succeeding in his goal.

I think this issue could end up relating to my larger project on contingent labor because there's also a similar ignorance of identity politics in this discussion.  When I'm at conferences, I hear discussion of contingent laborers as marginalized.  However, this is a job, not an identity position.  What about those who are in this marginalized job and inhabit a marginalized identity category?  It seems to me like we don't talk about this enough.  Eileen Schell does in her book from the 1990s, but now there seems to be a whitewashing of discussions of contingent laborers.

Perhaps the perspectives on race, sexuality, age, disability, weight, religion, and marital status can help me think more complexly about issues of contingent labor?  I won't know until I keep reading!  Now, on to the focal article for this issue: "Gone Fishing: I-O Psychologists' Missed Opportunities to Understand Marginalized Employees' Experiences with Discrimination."

Murphy, Kevin. "Introduction: From the Editor." Industrial and Organizational Psychology 6 (2013): 1-2. Web.