Article Author: Jude Antonyappan, Krishna Guadalupe

When societies legitimize privileges assumed by members of historically dominant groups, whether based on ethnicity, religion, culture, gender, or nationality, other groups are inevitably delegitimized. In organizations where culture and environment sustain delegitimizing schemas and related biases, the withholding of opportunities and resources from delegitimized groups often becomes normalized. Such exclusion fosters passivity toward injustice and inequity, particularly through special opportunities that elevate dominant-group members while creating barriers for those who are “othered.” Over time, these dynamics erode trust and diminish commitment to a shared organizational purpose. This article examines the role of othering and the delegitimization of the rights of marginalized stakeholders, and how these practices commonly undermine organizational cohesion, growth, and change management. We explore how delegitimization is normalized through the assertion of undue privileges rooted in non-work-related attributes, absent justice and equity frameworks. Attention is given to subtle organizational practices and communicative strategies that differentiate those who assert dominance-based privilege from those who are delegitimized, and how these processes damage organizational health. Because such practices tend to flourish under authoritarian modes of governance, we also examine organizational cultures that devalue justice in order to sustain both direct and indirect exclusion. While delegitimization is not equated with overtly unlawful extremist groups such as the KKK or neo-Nazi movements, we acknowledge that exclusionary ideologies, once operating largely at the margins, are re-emerging within broader sociopolitical contexts, with implications for organizational life. Using five vignettes, this study illustrates how organizational cultures may become conducive to othering and the normalization of delegitimization, often producing environments of divisive control

Keywords: Delegitimization; Othering; Belonging; Cognitive Schemas; Dominance; Organizational Environment; Justice Frameworks; Organizational Culture; Empowerment Strategies; Organizational Excellence

Article Review Status: Published

Pages: 1-12

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