Organizational soundscapes and the sonicity of voices: The power of the 'sounds' that carry 'words'

Organizations are soundscapes – they resonate with sounds and particularly the sounds of voices. Somehow however voice sonics, that is the sounds of voices and not the words carried on those sounds, have escaped attention in management studies. This absence of analysis is peculiar given voice sonics' undoubted influence on management (they may or may not signal authority), careers (voice quality can help or hinder progression) and on the general day-to-day functioning of organizations. This paper addresses this absence: It introduces sonicity and explores its powerful absent presence. In developing a feminist theory of sonicity's performative power, we demonstrate the value of including sonicity in management research. To do this, we devise a strategy of researching from the body and use a case study of feminine voice sonics. Our theoretical location is the works of feminist theorists Jessica Benjamin and Judith Butler, into which we insert sonicity. This explains the millennia-long silencing of feminine sonicity in the public realm and implications of its un-silencing in contemporary, non-binary organizational soundscapes. Sonicity takes us ultimately to a contribution to feminist care ethics: the power-to-care. Having demonstrated the insights that a focus on sonicity can bring, we recommend sonicity studies that explore not only other subordinated voice sonics but also dominant or aggressive sonicities.