Abstract
This review examines how the concept of boundaries has been mobilised in social identity research within organisation and management studies and related fields. It analyses how scholars use the notions of boundary and boundary work to map identity domains and to understand social identification. The review offers two key contributions. First, boundaries present a spatial framework for differentiating and connecting personal and social identity, multiple social identities, and collective identities, with particular focus on permeability, hierarchy, and intersection. Second, the notion of boundary work sheds light on identification as an active process of establishing, reinforcing, transgressing, negotiating, and dissolving distinctions between identity domains. In various contexts such as professions, organisations, work–non-work relations, and boundary-spanning roles, boundary work constitutes a form of identity work. The review also emphasises the need for more multidimensional, cross-level analyses, increased attention to boundary objects, and more in-depth theorisation of boundary transgression and dissolution.