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Introduction : an autoethnography of an organizational autoethnography book / Andrew F. Herrmann -- Power, emotional labor, and intersectional identity at work : I would not kiss my boss but I did not speak up / Katherine J. Denker -- Stroking my rifle like the body of a woman : a woman's socialization into the U.S. Army / Jeni Hunniecutt -- Working on it : family narratives of masculinity, disability, and work-life balance / Kurt Lindemann -- Dolly, Ellie May, and me : my Southern Appalachian working identity / Annalee Tull -- Sensemaking in the dialysis clinic / Bernard J. Brommel -- How rainbow gatherings work : (dis)organization in small acts / Kristen C. Blinne and Tenali Hrenak -- Good ol'boys and their analog networks / Alix R. Watson -- Broken promises : psychological contract breach, organizational exit, and occupational change / Andrew F. Herrmann

Fundamentalist evangelicalism is an intricate grand narrative based upon the interrelated concepts of end times' eschatology and purity. These two concepts created the conditions by which white evangelicals abandoned their traditional moral rhetoric and overwhelmingly helped elect Donald Trump. However, the eschatological and purity concepts have also created the conditions by which evangelicalism is fracturing along racial and gender lines. This article, written by a former evangelical fundamentalist, looks at the grand narrative and the ruptures occurring within the culture, including the #ChurchToo movement and the rise of the #Exvangelicals.

Political decisions about higher education and organizational decision-making within higher educational institutions reflect the acceptance of academic capitalist discourse, placing financial burdens on students, stress upon faculty, and the obliteration of trust between faculty and administration. In this critical layered narrative account, a tenure-track faculty member examines the impacts and influences of academic capitalism, including how this neoliberal discourse disregards the idea of higher education as a public good, creates an atmosphere of fear among faculty, and affects faculty-student relationships. This account illustrates how academic capitalism, with its emphasis on money and power, influenced decisions regarding a partnership with a software company, and of course, a rebooted football program.

In this piece the author takes a journey into the meaning of quests through the philosophical terrain of existential phenomenology and authenticity. Unlike quest narratives in literature and popular culture, our life narratives are not yet finished, but ongoing. Comparing the idea of existential homelessness with its undeniable and constant change to that of autoethnographic writing, he examines narrative and memory and how current life events change our understandings of past narratives and our sense of identity. Our life narratives are made up of fragmented thoughts and ideas, the stories others told before we were born—and will tell about us after we are gone.

In this exploration, I examine how autoethnographers create connections and community through the metaphor of the undead in their various forms. Autoethnography allows us to write and speak about our anxieties, our impolite private issues, and what frightens us at home and at work, including aging, guilt, mortality, shame, and lost love. Through autoethnography, we connect the seen and the invisible, the known and the unknown, the understood and the unexplained, mystery and science. It provides us the opportunity to reenchant the world. Most importantly, autoethnographic writing provides us the opportunity to recognize that our fears are not ours alone but are a basis upon which we can all connect.

In this exploration, I consider the dilemmas I experienced as a young qualitative researcher, particularly the ethical questions about how I write, who I implicate as I write, and how community fits into my ideas of qualitative inquiry. This account is drawn from conversations with peers and mentors, ethnographic experience, and interviews. It is an explication of how the academic capitalist discourse that surrounds higher education conflicts with the premises of qualitative inquiry. It is a call to arms for second-generation qualitative researchers to push the boundaries, expand the development, and increase the readership of our work. It calls on our academic parents to continue to protect us within the academy, but also from the academy's criteria as we attempt to enlarge our readership and influence.

Communication Perspectives on Popular Culture contains all new writings from many important established scholars as well as brilliant young scholars in the communication field. Contributors explore new and emerging ways to approach popular culture - from case studies to emerging theories - as they examine how popular culture, media, and communication influence our everyday lives.