Resistance Will Be Futile? The Stigmatization (or Not) of Whistleblowers

Does speaking up ruin one's life? Organizational and whistleblowing research largely accept that whistleblower is a negative label that effects one's well-being. Whistleblowing research also emphasizes the drawn-out process of speaking up. The result is a narrative of the whistleblower as someone who suffers indefinitely. In this paper, I draw on theories of stigma, labelling, and identity, specifically stigmatized identity, to provide a more nuanced understanding of whistleblower stigma as relational and temporary. I analyse two cases of whistleblowing, one where the label whistleblower was accepted, and one where it was eventually rejected. By comparing how the whistleblower responds to stigmatizing and non-stigmatizing others, I explore how whistleblower stigmatization emerges, or does not, in interactions. This paper makes two important contributions. First, I add to the growing research on whistleblower stigmatization a more nuanced and developed framework: one that sees the interaction between whistleblowers and others as relational. Second, I provide an understanding of the identity whistleblower as one that can be temporary and revisable. Research has highlighted how whistleblowing is a process, but little attention has been paid to how one moves on from being a whistleblower and the potential stigmatization associated with the role. Rather than assuming a whistleblower is stuck with this identity-and the associated stigma-for life, I provide insight on how whistleblower can be a positive label that opens one up to support, and even when it is stigmatized, it does not have to be an end state.

Automated summary

This research provides a more nuanced understanding of whistleblower stigma as relational and temporary, emphasizing the interaction between whistleblowers and others. It also highlights the potential for a whistleblower to move on from their role and challenges the assumption that being a whistleblower is a lifelong identity associated with stigma.