This article reviews conceptual and empirical building blocks of an emerging research agenda on ideology in work organizations. Ideologies are discussed with reference to interests, institutions, and identities, reflecting societal, organizational, and individual perspectives. Societal issues are addressed in the critique of the political-economic ideology of neoliberalism, system justification theory, and historical ideological transitions. On the organizational level, ideologies are examined in the context of management control systems and employee responses to power, drawing on downsizing research as an example. Individual-level psychological mechanisms and consequences of ideological control are addressed in theorizing on social character, subjectification, governmentality, and the entreployee concept. Denaturalization, reflexivity, and anti-performativity are suggested as research principles. Operationalizing anti-performativity, a suggested counter-model of humanistic ideals, positions individuation, solidarity, and emancipation against neoliberal ideologies of individualism, competition, and instrumentality. Discussed research needs include theoretical elaboration, empirical investigations, and practice-oriented applications.
