- University of Exeter Business School
The SERSF Building, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ - +44 (0)1326 259090
Steffen Boehm
University of Exeter, Business School, Faculty Member
- Critical Management Studies, Management, Political Economy, Philosophy, Development Studies, Commodity Chains, and 27 moreEthical Consumption, Web 2.0, Green Marketing, Sociology, Critical Marketing, Organization Studies, Psychoanalysis, Social Movements, Politics, Critical Theory, Organizational Theory, Business, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environmental Sustainability, Governance, Political Science, Climate Change, Publishing, Open Access, Marxism, Sociology of Work, Work and Labour, Gramsci and Cultural Hegemony, Globalization, Civil Society and the Public Sphere, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and Civil Societyedit
- Steffen Böhm is Professor in Organisation & Sustainability and Director of the Sustainability & Circular Economy Rese... moreSteffen Böhm is Professor in Organisation & Sustainability and Director of the Sustainability & Circular Economy Research Cluster at University of Exeter Business School. He was previously Professor in Management and Sustainability and Director of the Essex Sustainability Institute at the University of Essex. He is Honorary Professor in Management and Sustainability at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, and Visiting Professor in Renewable Energy Activism at Uppsala University, Sweden. He holds a PhD from the University of Warwick. His research focuses on political economies and ecologies of organization, management and the environment. He has a particular research interest in the role of business in society as well as grassroots organization models for sustainability. He was a co-founder of the open-access journal ephemera: theory & politics in organization, and is co-founder and co-editor of the new open-access publishing press MayFlyBooks as well as Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements. He has published five books: Repositioning Organization Theory (Palgrave), Against Automobility (Blackwell), Upsetting the Offset: The Political Economy of Carbon Markets (Mayfly), The Atmosphere Business (Mayfly), and Ecocultures: Blueprints for Sustainable Communities (Routledge).edit
The world faces a ‘perfect storm’ of social and ecological stresses, including climate change, habitat loss, resource degradation and social, economic and cultural change. In order to cope with these, communities are struggling to... more
The world faces a ‘perfect storm’ of social and ecological stresses, including climate change, habitat loss, resource degradation and social, economic and cultural change. In order to cope with these, communities are struggling to transition to sustainable ways of living that improve well-being and increase resilience. This book demonstrates how communities in both developed and developing countries are already taking action to maintain or build resilient and sustainable lifestyles. These communities, here designated as ‘Ecocultures’, are exemplars of the art and science of sustainable living. Though they form a diverse group, they organise themselves around several common organising principles including an ethic of care for nature, a respect for community, high ecological knowledge, and a desire to maintain and improve personal and social wellbeing.
Case studies from both developed and developing countries including Australia, Brazil, Finland, Greenland, India, Indonesia, South Africa, UK and USA, show how, based on these principles, communities have been able to increase social, ecological and personal wellbeing and resilience. They also address how other more mainstream communities are beginning to transition to more sustainable, resilient alternatives. Some examples also illustrate the decline of ecocultures in the face of economic pressures, globalisation and climate change. Theoretical chapters examine the barriers and bridges to wider application of these examples. Overall, the volume describes how ecocultures can provide the global community with important lessons for a wider transition to sustainability and will show how we can redefine our personal and collective futures around these principles.
Case studies from both developed and developing countries including Australia, Brazil, Finland, Greenland, India, Indonesia, South Africa, UK and USA, show how, based on these principles, communities have been able to increase social, ecological and personal wellbeing and resilience. They also address how other more mainstream communities are beginning to transition to more sustainable, resilient alternatives. Some examples also illustrate the decline of ecocultures in the face of economic pressures, globalisation and climate change. Theoretical chapters examine the barriers and bridges to wider application of these examples. Overall, the volume describes how ecocultures can provide the global community with important lessons for a wider transition to sustainability and will show how we can redefine our personal and collective futures around these principles.
Research Interests: Sociology, Environmental Science, Anthropology, Political Economy, Indigenous Studies, and 12 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Climate Change, Sustainable Communities, Climate Change Adaptation, Environmental Studies, Sustainable agriculture, Sustainable Development, Indigenous Knowledge, Communities of practice, Environmental Sustainability, Indigenous Peoples, and Intentional Communities
Repositioning Organization Theory studies the political positioning of organization theory. The book argues that there are two main projects in organization theory: the positioning and depositioning projects, or the hegemonic project of... more
Repositioning Organization Theory studies the political positioning of organization theory. The book argues that there are two main projects in organization theory: the positioning and depositioning projects, or the hegemonic project of management and the postmodern project respectively. To critique the theoretical and political limits of these two projects, Böhm employs a range of critical (Benjamin and Adorno) and post-structural (Derrida, Laclau and Mouffe) philosophies. The book's main theoretical contribution is the conceptualization of what is called the 'political event', which is seen as an impossibility of social organization. The concept of the impossibility of organization seeks to simultaneously critique the hegemony of contemporary discourses of management knowledge and explore strategic possibilities for different organizational futures. This book is therefore a passionate call for repositioning and repoliticizing organization theory. Böhm illustrates this project of repositioning by engaging with the organizational and political challenges currently faced by anti-capitalist and social forum movements.
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Many academic authors, policy makers, NGOs, and corporations have focused on top-down human rights global norm-making, such as the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). What is often missing are... more
Many academic authors, policy makers, NGOs, and corporations have focused on top-down human rights global norm-making, such as the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). What is often missing are contextual and substantive analyses that interrogate rights mobilization and linkages between voluntary transnational rules and domestic gover-nance. Deploying a socio-legal approach and using a combination of longitudinal field and archival data, this article investigates how a local, indigenous community in Northern Chile mobilized their rights over a period of almost two decades. We found that rights mobilization was largely shaped by tensions between the different logics of legality and the business organization. In our case, the UNGP implementation process has been ineffective in giving rightsholders access to genuine remedy. On the contrary, it has led to weakened rights mobilization, dividing the local community. We conclude that greater attention to rights mobilization and domestic governance dynamics should be given in the business and human rights debate.
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This paper explores the interplay between capital, socio-spatial structure and grassroots agency in the context of the recent trajectories of labor geography. Based on field research conducted in Dersim, Turkey, our analysis unfolds the... more
This paper explores the interplay between capital, socio-spatial structure and grassroots agency in the context of the recent trajectories of labor geography. Based on field research conducted in Dersim, Turkey, our analysis unfolds the constraining role of socio-spatial structure in the agency and praxis of grassroots movements and their geography-making and crisis-displacement from below. Through the case study, we propound a concept of socio-spatial fix to explain how this praxis conjoins with and assists capital in both staving off its recurrent crises and reproducing its own logic of accumulation. Our analysis reveals that the socio-spatial fix in Dersim, which is constituted by the grassroots struggle against hydroelectric power plant projects, performs three functions. First, it facilitates the production of capitalist social relations and spaces; second, it strengthens and maintains the existing social order through temporally moderating the province's chronic problems; and third, it provides legitimacy for the capitalist exploitation of nature, culture and histories. Our research contributes to the emerging pluralist school of labor geography, providing an empirically substantiated insight into how capital reproduces itself via socio-spatial fixes produced by constrained grassroots agency.
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Multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) have become a vital part of the organizational landscape for corporate social responsibility. Recent debates have explored whether these initiatives represent opportunities for the “democratization” of... more
Multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) have become a vital part of the organizational landscape for corporate social responsibility. Recent debates have explored whether these initiatives represent opportunities for the “democratization” of transnational corporations, facilitating civic participation in the extension of corporate responsibility, or whether they constitute new arenas for the expansion of corporate influence and the private capture of regulatory power. In this article, we explore the political dynamics of these new governance initiatives by presenting an in-depth case study of an organization often heralded as a model MSI: the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). An effort to address global deforestation in the wake of failed efforts to agree a multilateral convention on forests at the Rio Summit (UNCED) in 1992, the FSC was launched in 1993 as a non-state regulatory experiment: a transnational MSI, administering a global eco-labeling scheme for timber and forest products. We trace the scheme’s evolution over the past two decades, showing that while the FSC has successfully facilitated multi-sectoral determination of new standards for forestry, it has nevertheless failed to transform commercial forestry practices or stem the tide of tropical deforestation. Applying a neo-Gramscian analysis to the organizational evolution of the FSC, we examine how broader market forces and resource imbalances between non-governmental and market actors can serve to limit the effectiveness of MSIs in the current neo-liberal environment. This presents dilemmas for NGOs which can lead to their defection, ultimately undermining the organizational legitimacy of MSIs.
Research Interests: Management, Social Movements, Geography, Environmental Science, International Relations, and 21 morePolitical Economy, Forestry, Corporate Social Responsibility, Political Theory, Political Ecology, Environmental Studies, Corporate Governance, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Strategic Management, Stakeholders, Governance, Critical Management Studies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Environmental Management, Forest Ecology And Management, Forest Ecology, Environmental Sustainability, Civil Society, Stakeholder Theory, and Forest Stewardship Council
The main purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of articulating Political Discourse Theory (PDT) together with Organizational Studies (OS), while using the opportunity to introduce PDT to those OS scholars who have not yet... more
The main purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of articulating Political Discourse Theory (PDT) together with Organizational Studies (OS), while using the opportunity to introduce PDT to those OS scholars who have not yet come across it. The bulk of this paper introduces the main concepts of PDT, discussing how they have been applied to concrete, empirical studies of resistance movements. In recent years, PDT has been increasingly appropriated by OS scholars to problematize and analyze resistances and other forms of social antagonisms within organizational settings, taking the relational and contingent aspects of struggles into consideration. While the paper supports the idea of a joint articulation of PDT and OS, it raises a number of critical questions of how PDT concepts have been empirically used to explain the organization of resistance movements. The paper sets out a research agenda for how both PDT and OS can together contribute to our understanding of new, emerging organizational forms of resistance movements.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Organizational Behavior, Management, Discourse Analysis, Social Movements, and 13 morePolitical Economy, Organizational Theory, Leadership, Politics, Ideology, Resistance (Social), Civil Society and the Public Sphere, Gramsci, Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Democracy, Political Discourse Analysis, Hegemony, and Civil Society
In recent years, it has become an increasingly common marketing practice to connect the sale of consumer products to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, such as aid and development projects in so-called ‘developing’... more
In recent years, it has become an increasingly common marketing practice to connect the sale of consumer products to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, such as aid and development projects in so-called ‘developing’ countries. One example is Volvic’s pioneering ‘1L=10L for Africa’ campaign (2005–2010), which linked the sale of each liter of bottled water in ‘developed’ countries with the promise by Danone, Volvic’s owner, to provide 10 liters of drinking water in Africa. In this article, we engage with this ‘cause-related marketing’ campaign, using critical discourse analysis (CDA) to uncover its mechanisms and ideological functioning. We show how Volvic was able to transform an ordinary commodity, bottled water, into a consumer activist brand through which consumers could take part in solving global social problems, such as the access to safe drinking water in ‘developing’ countries. Our analysis of this exemplary case shows the ways that CSR often operates to deflect ethical critiques, consolidate brand loyalty and corporate profits, and defuse political struggles around consumption. By doing so, we suggest that CSR forms part of a complex strategy deployed to legitimize particular brands and commodities. In this way CSR can be seen as playing an important role in the ideological makeup of contemporary consumer capitalism.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Marketing, Discourse Analysis, Social Theory, Corporate Social Responsibility, and 12 moreSustainable Production and Consumption, Social Marketing, Water, Advertising, Sustainable Development, Ethical Consumption, Critical Discourse Analysis, Sustainable Water Resources Management, Environmental Sustainability, Social Media Marketing, Bottled Water Industry, and Ethical Marketing
"Through the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement, the idea of horizontal, leaderless organization has come to the attention of the mass media. In this article we explore radical, participative democratic alternatives to leadership through... more
"Through the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement, the idea of horizontal, leaderless organization has come to the attention of the mass media. In this article we explore radical, participative democratic alternatives to leadership through an empirical study of four Social Movement Organizations (SMOs). Whilst there has been some writing on leadership within SMOs, it has mirrored the ‘mainstream’ assumption that leadership is the product of individual leaders possessing certain traits, styles and/or behaviours. In contrast, critical leadership studies (CLS) recognize that leadership is a relational, socially constructed phenomenon rather than the result of a stable set of leadership attributes that inhere in ‘the leaders’. We utilize this framing to analyse how leadership is understood and performed in anarchist SMOs by examining how actors manage meaning and define reality without compromising the ideological commitments of their organizations. Furthermore, we also pay attention to the organizational practices and processes developed to: (a) prohibit individuals from permanently assuming a leadership role; (b) distribute leadership skills and roles; and (c) encourage other actors to participate and take-up these roles in the future. We conclude by suggesting that just because an organization is leaderless, it does not necessarily mean that it is also leadershipless."
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To date, the primary focus of research in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been on the strategic implications of CSR for corporations and less on an evaluation of CSR from a wider political, economic and social... more
To date, the primary focus of research in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been on the strategic implications of CSR for corporations and less on an evaluation of CSR from a wider political, economic and social perspective. In this paper, we aim to address this gap by critically engaging with marketing campaigns of so-called ‘ethical’ bottled water. We especially focus on a major CSR strategy of a range of different companies that promise to provide drinking water for (what they name as) ‘poor African people’ by way of Western consumers purchasing bottled water. Following Fairclough’s approach, we unfold a three-step critical discourse analysis of the marketing campaigns of 10 such ‘ethical’ brands. Our results show that bottled water companies try to influence consumers’ tastes through the management of the cultural meaning of bottled water, producing a more ‘ethical’ and ‘socially responsible’ perception of their products/brands. Theoretically, we base our analysis on McCracken’s model of the cultural meaning of consumer goods, which, we argue, offers a critical perspective of the recent emergence of CSR and business ethics initiatives. We discuss how these marketing campaigns can be framed as historical struggles associated with neo-liberal ideology and hegemony. Our analysis demonstrates how such CSR strategies are part of a general process of the reproduction of capitalist modes of accumulation and legitimation through the usage of cultural categories.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Marketing, Discourse Analysis, Social Theory, Corporate Social Responsibility, and 12 moreSustainable Production and Consumption, Social Marketing, Water, Advertising, Sustainable Development, Ethical Consumption, Critical Discourse Analysis, Environmental Sustainability, Social Media Marketing, Bottled Water, Bottled Water Industry, and Ethical Marketing
The article opens with a critical analysis of the dominant business model of for-profit, academic publishing, arguing that the extraordinarily high profits of the big publishers are dependent upon a double appropriation that exploits both... more
The article opens with a critical analysis of the dominant business model of for-profit, academic publishing, arguing that the extraordinarily high profits of the big publishers are dependent upon a double appropriation that exploits both academic labour and universities’ financial resources. Against this model, we outline four possible responses: the further development of open access repositories, a fair trade model of publishing regulation, a renaissance of the university presses, and, finally, a move away from private, for-profit publishing companies toward autonomous journal publishing by editorial boards and academic associations.
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Climate change is increasingly being recognized as a serious threat to dominant modes of social organization, inspiring suggestions that capitalism itself needs to be transformed if we are to ‘decarbonize’ the global economy. Since the... more
Climate change is increasingly being recognized as a serious threat to dominant modes of social organization, inspiring suggestions that capitalism itself needs to be transformed if we are to ‘decarbonize’ the global economy. Since the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, carbon markets have emerged as the main politico-economic tools in global efforts to address climate change. Newell and Paterson (2010) have recently claimed that the embrace of carbon markets by financial and political elites constitutes a possible first step towards the transformation of current modes of capitalist organization into a new form of greener, more sustainable ‘climate capitalism.’ In this paper, we argue that the institutionalization of carbon markets does not, in fact, represent a move towards the radical transformation of capitalism, but is better understood as the most recent expression of ongoing trends of ecological commodification and expropriation, driving familiar processes of uneven and crisis-prone development. In this paper, we review four critical Marxist concepts: metabolic rift (Foster, 1999); capitalism as world ecology (Moore, 2011a); uneven development and accumulation through dispossession (Harvey, 2003, 2006); and sub-imperialism (Marini, 1972, 1977), developing a framework for a Marxist analysis of carbon markets. Our analysis shows that carbon markets form part of a longer historical development of global capitalism and its relation to nature. Carbon markets, we argue, serve as creative new modes of accumulation, but are unlikely to transform capitalist dynamics in ways that might foster a more sustainable global economy. Our analysis also elucidates, in particular, the role that carbon markets play in exacerbating uneven development within the Global South, as elites in emerging economies leverage carbon market financing to pursue new strategies of sub-imperial expansion.
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In a recent review of our book Upsetting the Offset: The Political Economy of Carbon Markets (Böhm and Dabhi, 2009), Axel Michaelowa has taken issue with a range of our critiques of carbon markets. In what follows we respond to some of... more
In a recent review of our book Upsetting the Offset: The Political Economy of Carbon Markets (Böhm and Dabhi, 2009), Axel Michaelowa has taken issue with a range of our critiques of carbon markets. In what follows we respond to some of the issues raised and put Dr Michaelowa’s book review into a broader context of the political and economic debates around carbon markets. The review confirms the ever clearer fault lines around which climate policy debates are structured and therefore deserves wider discussion and debate.
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Despite prolonged resistance campaigns against what are regarded as unethical production practices of companies such as Nike, people around the world still seem to be happy to spend a lot of money buying expensive consumer products. Why... more
Despite prolonged resistance campaigns against what are regarded as unethical production practices of companies such as Nike, people around the world still seem to be happy to spend a lot of money buying expensive consumer products. Why is this so? In this article we discuss this question through the lens of the concept of fetishism. By discussing texts by Freud and Marx, amongst others, we first explore the genealogy of the concept of fetishism. We then develop a Lacanian reading to understand how processes of fetishization dominate today’s capitalist society, producing a modern subject that constantly desires to consume more in order to constitute itself. We argue—with Lacan—that at the heart of this process of the constitution of the subject through consumption is enjoyment or, what Lacan calls, jouissance. Capitalism—as any other socio-economic regime—can thus be understood as a system of enjoyment.
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How do groups resist the apparently all-encompassing discourse of management? Rejecting current theories of resistance as `re-appropriation' or `micro-politics', we argue that resistance may be thought of as a hegemonic struggle... more
How do groups resist the apparently all-encompassing discourse of management? Rejecting current theories of resistance as `re-appropriation' or `micro-politics', we argue that resistance may be thought of as a hegemonic struggle undertaken by social movements. We identify four major resistance movements that engage with management: unions, organizational misbehaviour, civic movements and civic movement organizations. We argue that these forms of resistance differ in terms of location (civil society or workplace) and strategy (political or infra-political). We chart out the possible interconnections between these different modes of resistance and detail how these interconnections are established. By doing this, the paper provides a framework for understanding the many forms of resistance movements that seek to disrupt the hegemonic discourse of management.
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Latin America is experiencing a new era of the myth of development based on a model of extractivism. The most dramatic face of extractivism in the region has been, on the one hand, the growing presence of transnational mining corporations... more
Latin America is experiencing a new era of the myth of development based on a model of extractivism. The most dramatic face of extractivism in the region has been, on the one hand, the growing presence of transnational mining corporations supported by national governments as well as regional and international finance and development institutions, and, on the other hand, the intense resistance against this development by social movements. In this paper we present the case of Andalgalá (a small town in the Province of Catamarca in Argentina) and the people’s struggle
against transnational mining corporations and their allies. Following the tradition of the Philosophy of Liberation and Dussel’s ana-dialectic method, we have closely engaged with, what have been called, the “Argentinean communities of NO”, expressing their opposition to neocolonial forms of development and management. In this paper we are specifically interested in understanding how the two main managerial devices used by mining companies, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and governance pacts, impacted the people’s struggle. Overall, this paper provides a snapshot of the battles at the frontlines of extractivism. It hopes to give voice to those people who are normally not heard, providing a space for their views of a different kind of development.
against transnational mining corporations and their allies. Following the tradition of the Philosophy of Liberation and Dussel’s ana-dialectic method, we have closely engaged with, what have been called, the “Argentinean communities of NO”, expressing their opposition to neocolonial forms of development and management. In this paper we are specifically interested in understanding how the two main managerial devices used by mining companies, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and governance pacts, impacted the people’s struggle. Overall, this paper provides a snapshot of the battles at the frontlines of extractivism. It hopes to give voice to those people who are normally not heard, providing a space for their views of a different kind of development.
Research Interests: Social Movements, Latin American Studies, Political Economy, Political Philosophy, Development Studies, and 21 moreSocial Sciences, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Governance, Sustainable Development, Liberation Theology, Colonialism, Rural Development, Resistance (Social), Post-Colonialism, Argentina, Mining, Environmental Sustainability, Andes, Development, Multinational Corporations, Empire, Imperialism, Organisation Studies, Philosophy of liberation, Neocolonialism, and Enrique Dussel
In a pivotal section of Capital, volume 1, Marx (1976: 279) notes that, in order to understand the capitalist production of value, we must descend into the ‘hidden abode of production’: the site of the labour process conducted within an... more
In a pivotal section of Capital, volume 1, Marx (1976: 279) notes that, in order to understand the capitalist production of value, we must descend into the ‘hidden abode of production’: the site of the labour process conducted within an employment relationship. In this paper we argue that by remaining wedded to an analysis of labour that is confined to the employment relationship, Labour Process Theory (LPT) has missed a fundamental shift in the location of value production in contemporary capitalism. We examine this shift through the work of Autonomist Marxists like Hardt and Negri, Lazaratto and Arvidsson, who offer theoretical leverage to prize open a new ‘hidden abode’ outside employment, for example in the ‘production of organization’ and in consumption. Although they can open up this new ‘hidden abode’, without LPT's fine-grained analysis of control/resistance, indeterminacy and structured antagonism, these theorists risk succumbing to empirically naive claims about the ‘new economy’. Through developing an expanded conception of a ‘new hidden abode’ of production, the paper demarcates an analytical space in which both LPT and Autonomist Marxism can expand and develop their understanding of labour and value production in today's economy.
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In this paper we analyze the role of marketing in the construction of what can be called the hegemony of development. Through an investigation of the marketing practices of the pulp and paper industry in South America and the resistances... more
In this paper we analyze the role of marketing in the construction of what can be called the hegemony of development. Through an investigation of the marketing practices of the pulp and paper industry in South America and the resistances that are
articulated by a range of civil society actors against the expansion of this industry, we problematize marketing as a political and contested discourse and practice. By using Laclau and Mouffe’s (1985, 2001) theoretical framework, which is centered on the
concept of ‘hegemony’, we highlight the crucial role marketing plays in the social and cultural legitimation of the highly controversial development of the pulp and paper
industry – regarded as one of the most polluting industries in the world – in South America. We build on existing ‘critical marketing’ literatures to critique marketing’s role in spreading ‘development’ practices around the world, and we introduce Laclau and Mouffe’s theories to the marketing field in order to understand better the way marketing helps to produce ‘development’ as a hegemonic discourse in a particular social and cultural field. In this way we contribute to a growing understanding that critical marketing research is not only about exposing and analyzing the discourses and practices that drive consumption. Rather, we see marketing as an ontological discourse and practice that is crucial for the cultural and social legitimation of the development of entire industries and economic spheres.
articulated by a range of civil society actors against the expansion of this industry, we problematize marketing as a political and contested discourse and practice. By using Laclau and Mouffe’s (1985, 2001) theoretical framework, which is centered on the
concept of ‘hegemony’, we highlight the crucial role marketing plays in the social and cultural legitimation of the highly controversial development of the pulp and paper
industry – regarded as one of the most polluting industries in the world – in South America. We build on existing ‘critical marketing’ literatures to critique marketing’s role in spreading ‘development’ practices around the world, and we introduce Laclau and Mouffe’s theories to the marketing field in order to understand better the way marketing helps to produce ‘development’ as a hegemonic discourse in a particular social and cultural field. In this way we contribute to a growing understanding that critical marketing research is not only about exposing and analyzing the discourses and practices that drive consumption. Rather, we see marketing as an ontological discourse and practice that is crucial for the cultural and social legitimation of the development of entire industries and economic spheres.
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Purpose – The purpose of this article is to analyse the organisation of the Bolivian “water war” in Cochabamba that saw a social movement resist international business and the privatisation of public goods. The implications for the study... more
Purpose – The purpose of this article is to analyse the organisation of the Bolivian “water war” in Cochabamba that saw a social movement resist international business and the privatisation of public goods. The implications for the study of resistance in management and organisation studies will be
evaluated.
Design/methodology/approach – Laclau’s discourse theory is used to analyse the organisation of resistance and the establishment of a new discourse of “the people”. A range of primary and secondary data are drawn upon.
Findings – The study shows how the resistance movement was successfully organised in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Through various “horizontal” and “vertical” methods of organising, the Coordinadora, the overarching resistance organisation, was able to unite formerly disparate discourses into a single demand. This establishment of a united front was a key element in the formation of the discourse of “the people”, which successfully challenged neo-liberal privatisation and management discourses put forward by the government, multinational companies and international finance institutions.
Research limitations/implications – The research was primarily focused on studying the discursive shift that occurred during the Bolivian “water war” in 1999 and 2000. The paper was not
able to discuss the aftermath of the successful resistance movement, and the various problems the new municipal water organisation ran into after it regained control of the water resources in Cochabamba.
Practical implications – The primary audience of practitioners are participants in social movements that are engaged in resistance struggles against multinational companies and
governments. Drawing on the experiences from the Bolivian “water war”, the paper offers a range of practical insights into how to effectively organise resistance movements. This paper might also be useful to policy makers and managers in the area of water management.
Originality/value – This is one of the first papers that analyses the Bolivian “water war” to consider its implications for the study of resistance within management and organisation studies.
evaluated.
Design/methodology/approach – Laclau’s discourse theory is used to analyse the organisation of resistance and the establishment of a new discourse of “the people”. A range of primary and secondary data are drawn upon.
Findings – The study shows how the resistance movement was successfully organised in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Through various “horizontal” and “vertical” methods of organising, the Coordinadora, the overarching resistance organisation, was able to unite formerly disparate discourses into a single demand. This establishment of a united front was a key element in the formation of the discourse of “the people”, which successfully challenged neo-liberal privatisation and management discourses put forward by the government, multinational companies and international finance institutions.
Research limitations/implications – The research was primarily focused on studying the discursive shift that occurred during the Bolivian “water war” in 1999 and 2000. The paper was not
able to discuss the aftermath of the successful resistance movement, and the various problems the new municipal water organisation ran into after it regained control of the water resources in Cochabamba.
Practical implications – The primary audience of practitioners are participants in social movements that are engaged in resistance struggles against multinational companies and
governments. Drawing on the experiences from the Bolivian “water war”, the paper offers a range of practical insights into how to effectively organise resistance movements. This paper might also be useful to policy makers and managers in the area of water management.
Originality/value – This is one of the first papers that analyses the Bolivian “water war” to consider its implications for the study of resistance within management and organisation studies.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Business, Discourse Analysis, Social Theory, Latin American Studies, and 16 moreInternational Relations, Political Economy, International Business, Water, Human Rights, Water resources, Social Justice, Resistance (Social), Bolivia, Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Political Discourse Analysis, Environmental Sustainability, Hegemony, Ideology and Discourse Theory, Multinational Corporations, and Privatization
This paper contributes to critical understandings of how international business is resisted. It develops a Neo-Gramscian approach that emphasizes the importance of informal or ‘infra-political’ processes. Current conceptualizations... more
This paper contributes to critical understandings of how international business is resisted. It develops a Neo-Gramscian approach that emphasizes the importance of informal or ‘infra-political’ processes. Current conceptualizations demonstrate how international business is challenged via formal and organized political strategies in the firm, the state and civil society. The infra-political dimension is understated. This paper develops a theory of ‘articulation’ that broadens our understandings of how international business is resisted in both formal and informal ways.
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RESUMO: Este artigo trata de um sintoma: o de uma mudança ideológica, uma fratura histórica na produção fantasmática da organização social–a transição de Leste para Oeste. Ao seguir a recomendação de Žižek para “usufruir do sintoma”,... more
RESUMO: Este artigo trata de um sintoma: o de uma mudança ideológica, uma fratura histórica na produção fantasmática da organização social–a transição de Leste para Oeste. Ao seguir a recomendação de Žižek para “usufruir do sintoma”, exploro minha própria experiência histórica do “Wende” europeu Oriental de “socialismo real existente” para “capitalismo real existente”. Esta exploração é feita através de uma variedade de imagens diferentes, sendo, talvez, o famoso filme Adeus, Lênin!
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Purpose – This paper aims to link the process of “transition”, which started in the former Soviet system about 20 years ago, to the recent global financial and economic crisis. The paper considers “transition” as a shift from one... more
Purpose – This paper aims to link the process of “transition”, which started in the former Soviet system about 20 years ago, to the recent global financial and economic crisis. The paper considers “transition” as a shift from one socio-economic “dreamworld” to another, rather than as a real change
towards freedom and democracy, as most mainstream commentators would have it. The argument is that this “transition” to a capitalist, free market society was bound up with a host of dream-like imaginations of social and economic progress, which were also found on the imaginary horizon of the Soviet system. It is argued that the two systems, and hence also the recent global capitalist crisis, can be understood as being determined by complementary economies of desires, which, however, cannot be
fulfilled.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper combines a critical theory perspective, influenced by Buck-Morss and Benjamin, with a Lacanian analysis of subjectivity to critically analyze collective
fantasies as the key organizational principle behind the workings and eventual demise of the socialist utopia as well as the more recent downfall of the neoliberal discourse.
Findings – The paper demonstrates why both socialism and capitalism can be understood as “real existing” systems where social processes, institutions, ideologies and identities are organized at the interface of political-agonistic and symbolic-imaginary dimensions.
Social implications – The paper calls for assuming responsibility for our work as public intellectuals and academics, aiming at the continuous unmasking of illusions, fantasies and ideologies
at work in society, which we see as politics proper.
Originality/value – The paper uses critical-theoretic, psychoanalytic and post-structuralist frames in order to unravel the fantasmatic kernel at work of both socialist and capitalist utopias. These fantasies do not only struggle to uphold their hegemonic grip on the economy but on the very
production of subjectivity.
towards freedom and democracy, as most mainstream commentators would have it. The argument is that this “transition” to a capitalist, free market society was bound up with a host of dream-like imaginations of social and economic progress, which were also found on the imaginary horizon of the Soviet system. It is argued that the two systems, and hence also the recent global capitalist crisis, can be understood as being determined by complementary economies of desires, which, however, cannot be
fulfilled.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper combines a critical theory perspective, influenced by Buck-Morss and Benjamin, with a Lacanian analysis of subjectivity to critically analyze collective
fantasies as the key organizational principle behind the workings and eventual demise of the socialist utopia as well as the more recent downfall of the neoliberal discourse.
Findings – The paper demonstrates why both socialism and capitalism can be understood as “real existing” systems where social processes, institutions, ideologies and identities are organized at the interface of political-agonistic and symbolic-imaginary dimensions.
Social implications – The paper calls for assuming responsibility for our work as public intellectuals and academics, aiming at the continuous unmasking of illusions, fantasies and ideologies
at work in society, which we see as politics proper.
Originality/value – The paper uses critical-theoretic, psychoanalytic and post-structuralist frames in order to unravel the fantasmatic kernel at work of both socialist and capitalist utopias. These fantasies do not only struggle to uphold their hegemonic grip on the economy but on the very
production of subjectivity.
Informed by a Marxist theoretical perspective, the aim of this essay is to critically reflect on the relationship between capital and nature and specifically the ‘Rio process’, which started in 1992 and continued with the recent Rio+20... more
Informed by a Marxist theoretical perspective, the aim of this essay is to critically reflect on the relationship between capital and nature and specifically the ‘Rio process’, which started in 1992 and continued with the recent Rio+20 conference. In this process we have seen a discursive evolution from sustainable development to green economy. We argue that these two terms nevertheless relate to fundamentally similar and continuous practices, enabling capital to co-opt once radical concepts, such as sustainability, in order to include them in its logic of accumulation. In this essay we discuss a range of authors to critically reflect about capital’s recent reorganization attempts and its continuous onslaught on nature, which aims at preserving its continuous growth, counteracting the crisis in which it is immersed.
Research Interests:
Purpose – Aims to discuss the relationship between the recent G8 summit of 2005, held at Gleneagles, Scotland, and events occurring around the same time in the world of academe and in the global media. Design/methodology/approach – Draws... more
Purpose – Aims to discuss the relationship between the recent G8 summit of 2005, held at Gleneagles, Scotland, and events occurring around the same time in the world of academe and in the global media.
Design/methodology/approach – Draws upon personal experience and interpretation in order to raise issues for critical discussion and reflection, in relation to the impact and effectiveness of resistance movements within academe, activist counter-movements, and in society at large.
Findings – It is argued that high-profile media presentations of “big wins” and of major change to
“first world” policy in relation to “third world” poverty and development mask a situation of no real change to structural factors of global economics and political power, and that this is an area which should be addressed by the academic community.
Originality/value – Discusses issues of contemporary relevance, and seeks to stimulate further debate and discourse in the academic arena.
Design/methodology/approach – Draws upon personal experience and interpretation in order to raise issues for critical discussion and reflection, in relation to the impact and effectiveness of resistance movements within academe, activist counter-movements, and in society at large.
Findings – It is argued that high-profile media presentations of “big wins” and of major change to
“first world” policy in relation to “third world” poverty and development mask a situation of no real change to structural factors of global economics and political power, and that this is an area which should be addressed by the academic community.
Originality/value – Discusses issues of contemporary relevance, and seeks to stimulate further debate and discourse in the academic arena.
Once upon a time there was a shepherd tending his sheep at the edge of a country road. A brand new Mustang screeches to a halt next to him. The driver, a young man dressed in an Armani suit, Cerrutti shoes, Oakley glasses, TAG wrist... more
Once upon a time there was a shepherd tending his sheep at the edge of a country road. A brand new Mustang screeches to a halt next to him. The driver, a young man dressed in an Armani suit,
Cerrutti shoes, Oakley glasses, TAG wrist watch and a Bhs tie gets out and asks the shepherd, “If I guess how many sheep you have, will you give me one of them?” The shepherd looks at the young
man, then looks at the sprawling field of sheep and says, “Okay.” The young man parks the car, connects his notebook and wireless modem, enters a NASA site, scans the ground using his GPS,
opens a database and 60 Excel tables filled with algorithms, then prints a 150 page report on his high tech mini printer. He then turns to the shepherd and says, “You have exactly 1,586 sheep
here.” The shepherd answers: “That’s correct, you can have your sheep.” The young man takes one of the animals and puts it in the back of his vehicle. The shepherd looks at him and asks: “Now, if I
guess your profession, will you pay me back in kind?” The young man answers: “Sure.” The shepherd says, “You are a consultant.” “Exactly! How did you know?” asks the young man. “Very
simple,” answers the shepherd. “First, you came here without being called. Second, you charged me a fee to tell me something I already knew. Third, you do not understand anything about my business... and I’d really like to have my dog back.”
Cerrutti shoes, Oakley glasses, TAG wrist watch and a Bhs tie gets out and asks the shepherd, “If I guess how many sheep you have, will you give me one of them?” The shepherd looks at the young
man, then looks at the sprawling field of sheep and says, “Okay.” The young man parks the car, connects his notebook and wireless modem, enters a NASA site, scans the ground using his GPS,
opens a database and 60 Excel tables filled with algorithms, then prints a 150 page report on his high tech mini printer. He then turns to the shepherd and says, “You have exactly 1,586 sheep
here.” The shepherd answers: “That’s correct, you can have your sheep.” The young man takes one of the animals and puts it in the back of his vehicle. The shepherd looks at him and asks: “Now, if I
guess your profession, will you pay me back in kind?” The young man answers: “Sure.” The shepherd says, “You are a consultant.” “Exactly! How did you know?” asks the young man. “Very
simple,” answers the shepherd. “First, you came here without being called. Second, you charged me a fee to tell me something I already knew. Third, you do not understand anything about my business... and I’d really like to have my dog back.”
"This paper explores articulations of the value of investment in culture and the arts through a critical discourse analysis of policy documents, reports and academic commentary since 1997. It argues that in this period, discourses around... more
"This paper explores articulations of the value of investment in culture and the arts through a critical discourse analysis of policy documents, reports and academic commentary since 1997. It argues that in this period, discourses around the value of culture have moved from a focus on the direct economic contributions of the culture industries to their indirect economic benefits. These indirect benefits are discussed here under three main headings:
creativity and innovation, employability, and social inclusion. These are in turn analysed in terms of three forms of capital: human, social and cultural.
The paper concludes with an analysis of this discursive shift through the lens of autonomist Marxist concerns with the labour of social reproduction.
It is our argument that, in contemporary policy discourses on culture and the arts, the government in the UK is increasingly concerned with the use of culture to form the social in the image of capital. As such, we must turn our attention beyond the walls of the factory in order to understand the contemporary capitalist production of value and resistance to it."
creativity and innovation, employability, and social inclusion. These are in turn analysed in terms of three forms of capital: human, social and cultural.
The paper concludes with an analysis of this discursive shift through the lens of autonomist Marxist concerns with the labour of social reproduction.
It is our argument that, in contemporary policy discourses on culture and the arts, the government in the UK is increasingly concerned with the use of culture to form the social in the image of capital. As such, we must turn our attention beyond the walls of the factory in order to understand the contemporary capitalist production of value and resistance to it."
"Slavoj Zˇ izˇek has produced a plethora of books over the past 15 years (at the rate of over one a year), many of which are all curiously alike, as he recycles compulsively a limited number of key themes. Yet, one never feels any sense... more
"Slavoj Zˇ izˇek has produced a plethora of books over the past 15 years (at the rate of over one a year), many of which are all curiously alike, as he recycles compulsively a limited number of key themes. Yet, one never feels any sense of sterile repetition. In revisiting a topic, he often sheds new light on it, and so continues
the conversation he seems to be having with himself. Z ˇ izˇek is not much interested in establishing a rational, sensible dialogue with his readers. Instead, he is a firm believer in clear-cut positions. His writing is invariably crisp, provocative, and devoid of any coyness. One of Z ˇ izˇek’s favourite one-liners is (paraphrasing Freud): ‘Why are you saying that you’re only giving a modest opinion when what you are giving is only a modest opinion’.Z ˇ izˇek doesn’t ‘do’ modesty."
the conversation he seems to be having with himself. Z ˇ izˇek is not much interested in establishing a rational, sensible dialogue with his readers. Instead, he is a firm believer in clear-cut positions. His writing is invariably crisp, provocative, and devoid of any coyness. One of Z ˇ izˇek’s favourite one-liners is (paraphrasing Freud): ‘Why are you saying that you’re only giving a modest opinion when what you are giving is only a modest opinion’.Z ˇ izˇek doesn’t ‘do’ modesty."
This chapter is concerned with the conceptualisation of $, which in Lacan’s algebra stands for the ‘barred’ or the ‘destructed’ subject, the subject that is nothing, but full of emptiness. The Lacanian subject has no identity itself;... more
This chapter is concerned with the conceptualisation of $, which in Lacan’s algebra stands for the ‘barred’ or the ‘destructed’ subject, the subject that is nothing, but full of emptiness. The Lacanian subject has no identity itself; instead it is defined by a lack that is filled by the Other. For Benjamin the flâneur, the dandy who strolled through 19th century Parisian arcades, is such a ‘destructed subject’. The flâneur’s subjectivity is characterised by a special empathy with the commodity that lures him into a ‘dream world’ in which the most mundane things for sale can be enjoyed. In what is a series of interruptions the image of the flâneur, who for Benjamin is the archetypical subject of 19th century modernity, is ‘translated’ into today’s world of 21st century ‘hypermodern(organ)ization’, whose main icon, it could be argued, is the management consultant. This interruptive ‘translation’ is done by way of discussing the ‘goings-on’ of commodity fetishism which is shown to be the main ‘phantasmagoric’ fantasy, or ideology, of modernity. It is argued that the commodity enables the subject to identify with what is otherwise a failing Other – the commodity-Other fills the subject. This paper’s critique of commodity fetishism is, however, not thought to be a call for a transparency of social relations. Quite the contrary, what is shown with Žižek is that precisely this belief in transparency is already part of the ‘goings-on’ of commodity fetishism. In what is the last move of this paper the question of hope is raised. It is argued that there is no hope for transparency, progress or a full identity of the subject; instead there is only hope for a failure of the relationship between subject and Other. It is precisely this failure which describes the political importance of the question of the subject and the Other.
Before we trip ourselves up, let us start slowly, with our feet on the ground. We will assume for now that ground and feet exist, that we know what they mean, and that those feet are well dressed for the occasion. Let us begin with a... more
Before we trip ourselves up, let us start slowly, with our feet on the ground. We will assume for
now that ground and feet exist, that we know what they mean, and that those feet are well
dressed for the occasion. Let us begin with a mundane question, then. Not the kind of question
that philosophers usually start with, but rather, with the kind of question that we will argue is today essential, even fundamental. A question, therefore, of administration, management, marketing and organization. What section of the library or the bookshop might this book appear in?""
now that ground and feet exist, that we know what they mean, and that those feet are well
dressed for the occasion. Let us begin with a mundane question, then. Not the kind of question
that philosophers usually start with, but rather, with the kind of question that we will argue is today essential, even fundamental. A question, therefore, of administration, management, marketing and organization. What section of the library or the bookshop might this book appear in?""
Knowledge is implicitly assumed to form an increasingly important, or even the dominant source of values for today’s knowledge based organizations. It is rare, however, to encounter writings questioning what is ‘value’, enquiring into... more
Knowledge is implicitly assumed to form an increasingly important, or even the dominant source of
values for today’s knowledge based organizations. It is rare, however, to encounter writings questioning
what is ‘value’, enquiring into its provenance, or examining its distribution amongst organization’s
stakeholders. This chapter asks these very questions, focusing on Marx’s (1976) formulation of value
theory. Divided into four parts, it begins by giving a basic overview of the labour theory of value, as
developed by Marx in mid 19th century, industrialised England. The second part examines Roy Jacques’
(2000) critique of Marx, his rejection of the adequacy of ‘labour’ as a concept for analysing contemporary
value production, and his call for a ‘knowledge theory of value’. The third section focuses on
labour process theorist Paul Thompson (2005) and his challenge to the idea that labour and knowledge
are fundamentally different. The fourth part extends this concern with ‘other’ forms of contemporary
labour to a more global level by examining De Angelis’ (2006) and Retort’s (2005) suggestion that the
global economy today is driven by acts of enclosure and ‘primitive accumulation.
values for today’s knowledge based organizations. It is rare, however, to encounter writings questioning
what is ‘value’, enquiring into its provenance, or examining its distribution amongst organization’s
stakeholders. This chapter asks these very questions, focusing on Marx’s (1976) formulation of value
theory. Divided into four parts, it begins by giving a basic overview of the labour theory of value, as
developed by Marx in mid 19th century, industrialised England. The second part examines Roy Jacques’
(2000) critique of Marx, his rejection of the adequacy of ‘labour’ as a concept for analysing contemporary
value production, and his call for a ‘knowledge theory of value’. The third section focuses on
labour process theorist Paul Thompson (2005) and his challenge to the idea that labour and knowledge
are fundamentally different. The fourth part extends this concern with ‘other’ forms of contemporary
labour to a more global level by examining De Angelis’ (2006) and Retort’s (2005) suggestion that the
global economy today is driven by acts of enclosure and ‘primitive accumulation.
‘There is no such thing as society’, Margaret Thatcher once said. Society = O = Zero. Leftleaning liberals love to hate her for this statement, as it symbolises her whole ideological project of neo-liberal capitalism that has changed... more
‘There is no such thing as society’, Margaret Thatcher once said. Society = O = Zero. Leftleaning liberals love to hate her for this statement, as it symbolises her whole ideological project of neo-liberal capitalism that has changed British society forever. But should we simply join in with the popular refrain ‘It’s the society, stupid!’, or is there perhaps a certain truth in her statement? Is there zero value in the thing called society, or is there something more to it?
Research Interests:
It has been 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. We are ‘celebrating' this anniversary at a time when global capitalism and liberal democracy, the so-called winners of the Cold War struggle between East and West, find themselves in... more
It has been 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. We are ‘celebrating' this anniversary at a time when global capitalism and liberal democracy, the so-called winners of the Cold War struggle between East and West, find themselves in one of the deepest economic and political crises since the Wall Street crash in 1929 and the global turmoil that followed. Perhaps more significantly, however, this is the first crisis that Eastern Europeans are experiencing since their so-called ‘transition' from a state socialist to a capitalist ideology. What should we make of this transition since 1989? Rather than engaging in a traditional analysis of the winners and losers of this transition, I am interested in what today's capitalist crisis has perhaps in common with the crisis of state socialism in 1989. I will explore this question by engaging with the German film Good Bye Lenin!.
Research Interests:
This is a symposium of 3 reviews of the book 'Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities', by JK Gibson-Graham, Jenny Cameron and Stephen Healy. The reviews are written by Steffen Böhm, Peter North and... more
This is a symposium of 3 reviews of the book 'Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities', by JK Gibson-Graham, Jenny Cameron and Stephen Healy.
The reviews are written by Steffen Böhm, Peter North and Massimo de Angelis. The book authors also offer a response.
The reviews are written by Steffen Böhm, Peter North and Massimo de Angelis. The book authors also offer a response.
Research Interests:
"In their Proposition, David Harvie and colleagues develop their earlier work on the political economy of academic publishing (Harvie et al., 2012) to suggest a new avenue of resistance to what is characterized as the highly damaging... more
"In their Proposition, David Harvie and colleagues develop their earlier work on the political economy of academic publishing (Harvie et al., 2012) to suggest a new avenue of resistance to what is characterized as the highly damaging profiteering of
academic commercial publishers. Following Lenin’s classic revolutionary question, ‘What is to be done?’, Harvie and colleagues explore the options for editors to wrest control of their journals from publishers, taking them to new publishing houses; for example, working with university presses or publishing through a learned society. Harvie and his colleagues discovered that escaping from the grasp of their own journal publisher was harder than they had expected."
academic commercial publishers. Following Lenin’s classic revolutionary question, ‘What is to be done?’, Harvie and colleagues explore the options for editors to wrest control of their journals from publishers, taking them to new publishing houses; for example, working with university presses or publishing through a learned society. Harvie and his colleagues discovered that escaping from the grasp of their own journal publisher was harder than they had expected."
Research Interests:
Reconnecting to the land grounds us, says Steffen Böhm.
Review of Ecovillages: Lessons for Sustainable Community, by Karen T. Litfin (Polity, 2013)"
Review of Ecovillages: Lessons for Sustainable Community, by Karen T. Litfin (Polity, 2013)"
Research Interests:
Fracking has been hailed as the answer to our dwindling North Seas gas supplies and our increasing reliance on gas imports, not to mention the ever rising energy prices. In the hope of replicating the alleged success of fracking in the... more
Fracking has been hailed as the answer to our dwindling North Seas gas supplies and our increasing reliance on gas imports, not to mention the ever rising energy prices. In the hope of replicating the alleged success of fracking in the United States, the government has recently lifted a temporary ban on fracking in the UK, allowing energy companies to resume their drilling. While supporters of fracking argue that in times of an insecure geo-political environment accessing UK-based unconventional gas reserves will increase our energy security, helping to foster economic growth by supporting our own energy industry, opponents, of which there are many, point to the environmental risks associated with this new technique and the unproven impacts on jobs and energy prices. However, not many voices in this debate talk about the amount of energy we waste and the many tried and tested local solutions, such as combined heat and power, which already exist in the UK and many parts of Europe, and which are much more low-tech and hence far more affordable.
Research Interests:
Review of Carl Cederström & Peter Fleming (2012) Dead Man Working. Winchester, UK: Zero Books. May 2012; ISBN 978-1-78099-156-6, £9.99, $14.95, www.zero-books.net/books/dead-man-working This is an extended version of the Review31 of... more
Review of Carl Cederström & Peter Fleming (2012) Dead Man Working. Winchester, UK: Zero Books. May 2012; ISBN 978-1-78099-156-6, £9.99, $14.95, www.zero-books.net/books/dead-man-working
This is an extended version of the Review31 of Cederström & Fleming’s book; http://review31.co.uk/article/view/111/no-hope-no-release
This is an extended version of the Review31 of Cederström & Fleming’s book; http://review31.co.uk/article/view/111/no-hope-no-release
Research Interests:
About two weeks ago Martin Parker stood in for Simon Caulkin as the Observer’s management columnist, while the latter was away on holiday. Well done, Martin, for getting into one of the leading Sunday newspapers, for it is still... more
About two weeks ago Martin Parker stood in for Simon Caulkin as the Observer’s management columnist, while the latter was away on holiday. Well done, Martin, for getting into one of the leading Sunday newspapers, for it is still peculiarly unusual for any critical management scholar to actually make it into the broadsheets, or any ‘news’ for that matter. The critical management studies (CMS) project is maybe two decades old – maybe less, maybe more. Like with anything it is difficult to define the beginning of an event, a critique, a resistance. An event always takes place within history; a particular history of power, knowledge, resistance – critique. We never simply start from scratch. But however we should date the beginning of the CMS project, isn’t it peculiar that to date almost none of the big CMS canons have been able to establish themselves as truly public or ‘specific’ intellectuals, engaging with those public discourses which Ernesto Laclau might call ‘populist’; those discourses that are part of a hegemonic regime of capitalist relations? If CMS is about critiquing ‘management’, which Parker – in his 2002 book Against Management – describes as today’s ‘generalized technology of control’ and ‘hegemonic model of organization’, and if managerialism is indeed so all-persuasive, having entered all spheres of private and public life, then isn’t it ‘strange’ – to say the least – that the CMS project is almost non-existent, as far as its visibility in public discourse is concerned? Equally, isn’t it strange that Boltanski & Chiapello’s now seminal work, The New Spirit of Capitalism , is one of the very first critical assessments of contemporary capitalism using management theory? In fact, it is one of the first Verso books engaging with management literature, which, I guess, tells us a lot about the state of critique today, and specifically the state of critique within the business school and the CMS project. So, on one hand, yes, it is strange that within the two decades of its existence CMS hasn’t really made any inroads into public discourse – nor has it been able to influence general critical social theory. However, what I’d like to suggest in this paper, on the other hand, is that this isn’t strange at all. Let me explain why.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Organizational Behavior, Marketing, Sociology, Political Economy, and 12 moreEducation, Sustainable Development, Critical Management Studies, Resistance (Social), Capitalism, Gramsci, Environmental Sustainability, Hegemony, Carbon Market, Green Economy, Business Schools, and Sustainable Developement
This paper argues that critical studies of organization need to extend their analysis of labour beyond the sphere of value production organized by capital in order to fully apprehend the realities of today’s political economy. One... more
This paper argues that critical studies of organization need to extend their analysis of labour beyond the sphere of value production organized by capital in order to fully apprehend the realities of today’s political economy. One direction in which this analysis must be developed is to radically expand our understanding of ‘labour’ to incorporate the full range of value producing activities, including productive consumption (also called ‘prosumption’) and ‘free labour’. The second direction, which is more theoretically neglected, is to recognize that some contemporary business models do not depend much upon value production at all, but rather on the appropriation of value through the extraction of rents. In this paper we develop this analysis of ‘profit becoming rent’ by returning to Marx’s conception of ‘primitive accumulation’, both to highlight the continued significance of enclosure and appropriation in the global circuits of the extractive industries and manufacturing, but also to demonstrate that this logic is at work even in the most advanced socio-economic formations, for example in the basic business model of Facebook.
Research Interests:
In times of war we think it should be timely for the European Group of Organization Studies (EGOS) to reflect about the relationship between war and organization. Now, there seems to be an ambiguous silence of organization theorists and... more
In times of war we think it should be timely for the European Group of Organization Studies (EGOS) to reflect about the relationship between war and organization. Now, there seems to be an ambiguous silence of organization theorists and practitioners about the theory and practice of war. For us, this seems strange, to say the least, as the event of war is so obviously tied to organization; or does somebody seriously doubt that, besides being military and social catastrophes, the Holocaust, the Cold War or today’s War against Terror are not also events of organization?
Research Interests:
One of the main characteristics of the so-called postmodern turn in Organisation Studies has been the view that reality is fragmented; that is, rather than being a unity or whole, reality is seen as ephemeral collection of fragments:... more
One of the main characteristics of the so-called postmodern turn in Organisation Studies has been the view that reality is fragmented; that is, rather than being a unity or whole, reality is seen as ephemeral collection of fragments: holes, parts, burrows, aphorisms, components, pieces, percentages, shares.
Research Interests:
This article has two purposes: the first one is to continue a collective effort to confront the exclusion proceedings usual in the organizational studies field. By taking social movements as our research object, we also take the risks of... more
This article has two purposes: the first one is to continue a collective effort to confront the exclusion proceedings usual in the organizational studies field. By taking social movements as our research object, we also take the risks of ‘isolation’ by ‘silence of reason’. The second purpose is to contribute to make visible a part of the multiplicity of organizational worlds present around us and denied by the hegemony of organization.The word hegemony here refers to an alignment of the political discourse which produces a specific social meaning: the definition of organization by a structural systemic approach as a formalized object. For us, to get involved on this task, we need to expose ourselves to other possibilities: not only those which already exist in our field and which adopt a process approach of the organization, but also through cross fertilization with other fields. Hence, we review theories on the issue of resistance, specifically related to knowledge appropriation; and mention some knowledge produced by academic activists or by non academic activists, both of them as part of their praxis as organic intellectuals.
Research Interests:
On July 6th, 2001 egosNetWork (www. ephemeraweb. org/egosnetwork), a group initiated to facilitate the exchange of ideas between junior and established academics and aims to nurture the diversity and critical thinking in Organisation... more
On July 6th, 2001 egosNetWork (www. ephemeraweb. org/egosnetwork), a group initiated to facilitate the exchange of ideas between junior and established academics and aims to nurture the diversity and critical thinking in Organisation Studies, invited some of the major figures who have been involved in expressing critical voices within the formalised institutions of management and organisation studies to repond to a set of 'provocations', which pose questions about the meaning of critique in an effort to contribute to the radicalisation of organisation studies. What follows is a transcript of this discussion that took place as part of the 17th EGOS Colloquium 'The Odyssey of Organizing' in Lyon, France.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In the opening pages of The Accursed Share, Georges Bataille introduces a distinction between restrictive economy and general economy. The charge is clear: while economics has concerned itself with economic life, this concern has been... more
In the opening pages of The Accursed Share, Georges Bataille introduces a distinction between restrictive economy and general economy. The charge is clear: while economics has concerned itself with economic life, this concern has been manifest in relation to a restrictive economy which encompasses only a fraction of life. Against these restrictions Bataille sets out the project of empirical and historical study of the general economy, setting out an ‘economics’ which would not focus narrowly on production or even consumption of goods and services, but would open itself to all that exceeds that economy and is yet integral to it – waste, pleasure, sex, death, and all the other human activities that are life but that do not register under a restrictive conception of the economic subject as homo œconomicus.
Research Interests:
Steffen Böhm (SB): Larry, you and your colleagues have been at the forefront of the critique of carbon markets for almost a decade now. You have published a great number of books, pamphlets, newspaper articles, blog entries as well as... more
Steffen Böhm (SB): Larry, you and your colleagues have been at the forefront of the critique of carbon markets for almost a decade now. You have published a great number of books, pamphlets, newspaper articles, blog entries as well as academic articles, all of which you have made available on the Corner House website. 1 Many people from around the world, North and South, have downloaded these contributions, making it one of the key resource centres presenting critical thought on carbon markets. Let me congratulate you for making all of your work available free of charge; it's been invaluable for researchers like myself. Do you have any ideas about the number of people who have downloaded your papers as well as the other material you have made available over the years? Larry Lohmann (LL): It's hard to say because of the unreliability of the devices that count 'hits' on websites, but wherever I go I'm amazed at the number of people who have made good use of our website and the websites of our colleague organizations. SB: Do you find, when talking to people about carbon markets, that they know by now the basics about how they work, or do you think there is still a lot of ignorance and lack of information and knowledge about what carbon markets actually are? I'm asking because I must have formally presented and talked about the book I co-edited, Upsetting the Offset: The Political Economy of Carbon Markets (Böhm and Dabhi, 2009), more than 20 times over the course of the last two years. This has involved audiences ranging from undergraduate to PhD students, policy makers to business people, and a wide variety of academics, of course. But I'm still getting a sense that most people simply have no clue about what carbon markets are, how they function, who makes money and how, and what their implications and impacts are for people, politics and the environment. Do you think this is still a bit of a niche subject, or do you feel that there is now a broad understanding of carbon markets also amongst non-specialist audiences? LL: You could almost say that carbon markets are designed not to be understood by ordinary people. One of the functions they have come to assume – partly by intention, partly not – is to conceal a lack of effective action about climate change. What is even more striking is the extent to which carbon markets are misunderstood by people that....
Research Interests:
In 2012 we visited two communities in the North of Argentina. The people of Andalgalá have been living a stone's throw away from Argentina's biggest open-pit mine since the late 1990s. Our research (Misoczky and Böhm, 2013) revealed a... more
In 2012 we visited two communities in the North of Argentina. The people of Andalgalá have been living a stone's throw away from Argentina's biggest open-pit mine since the late 1990s. Our research (Misoczky and Böhm, 2013) revealed a string of environmental impacts of the mine, which is run by a consortium of multinational mining companies, led by Xstrata, now part of Glencore, the world's second biggest miner. Local activists, with the help of university students and researchers, have been collecting samples from water sources ...
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theory to the critical interpretation offered by critical theory. My only concern at this point was that it felt like the authors had not been sufficiently clear about how they were using the different terms reflection and reflexivity.... more
theory to the critical interpretation offered by critical theory. My only concern at this point was that it felt like the authors had not been sufficiently clear about how they were using the different terms reflection and reflexivity. This is something that students of research methodology are often concerned about and some explanation upfront about the distinction between these two terms would have been useful. Although at the end of each of these chapters the authors pose critical questions about reflection and reflexivity, it is left to the reader to make the links between the two concepts and it is not until the final chapters that the authors come clean about how they are using these terms. Although the reasons for this late disclosure become abundantly clear, I would have liked some clarity earlier. Chapter seven discusses some things that the authors feel are too important to be left out, but that they do not want to delve into in too much detail: discourse analysis, power and feminism being examples. It was at this point that I started to see how the whole book fitted together. In chapter eight the conclusions from the previous chapters are used to outline what is meant by reflexive interpretation: defined as 'the open play of reflection across various levels of interpreta-tion'. Here the learning about reflexive research from the different approaches outlined in the previous chapters is brought together to present an account of different levels of interpretation and how they work in qualitative research. The authors suggest that good qualitative research 'glides more or less consciously between two or more of these levels: the handling of the empirical material , interpretation, critical interpretation and reflections upon language and authority'. As the authors quite rightly point out, our personal preferences influence the different weightings we might give to these different levels. Research can be 'data-driven, insight-driven, emancipation-driven or polyphony-driven'. I found this outcome insightful and useful in helping me conceptualize ways of critiquing qualitative research. This eventual outcome made the journey worthwhile. In conclusion, this book has various uses. If I wanted to find out more about a particular philosophical approach and its practical implications, this would be an ideal text to take off the shelf and dip in to. Furthermore, I can imagine myself using the framework provided here to guide my own reflexive practice. Indeed, perhaps the most important thing this book does is to provide us with some decent signposting in critiquing our own work and that of others.
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Within a period of about two years – from 2004 to 2006 – the journal Culture and Organization published no less than four papers by Hugo Letiche (2004, 2005a, 2006; Letiche and Statler, 2005), as well as one special issue edited by him... more
Within a period of about two years – from 2004 to 2006 – the journal Culture and Organization published no less than four papers by Hugo Letiche (2004, 2005a, 2006; Letiche and Statler, 2005), as well as one special issue edited by him (2005b). While it is unusual for any serious academic journal to be so over-exposed to one particular author, my argument in this paper is not so much about monopolisation of voice and the apparent inequalities of access to publishing outlets in the academy, but more about the quality of argumentation and scholarship portrayed in the work of Letiche.
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In the previous two chapters I engaged in some detail with a range of organization theory literatures. I discussed two main discourses: the positioning and the depositioning projects of organization. While the politics of positioning... more
In the previous two chapters I engaged in some detail with a range of organization theory literatures. I discussed two main discourses: the positioning and the depositioning projects of organization. While the politics of positioning mainly serves the established hegemony of capital and management knowledge, the depositioning project resists positioning discourses by emphasizing the precariousness, plurality and locality of processes of organizing. On one hand, these resistances have been theoretically and politically important because they point to the contingent and undecidable nature of all positions of organization. On the other hand, however, these depositioning discourses can be seen to have certain depoliticizing effects, because they seem ill-prepared to effectively engage with those positioning discourses, such as capital, that always already emplace and 'corner' social organization. A project of repositioning aims to go beyond the restrictions of the deposi-tioning discourses. If the depositioning project is primarily about showing the undecidability of all organized phenomena, the repositioning project is based on an understanding that the notion of undecidability....
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The previous chapter engaged with the German philosophical tradition of destruction. The difficulty with writing about a philosophical concept such as destruction is that it cannot be easily defined; or, rather, it cannot be defined. One... more
The previous chapter engaged with the German philosophical tradition of destruction. The difficulty with writing about a philosophical concept such as destruction is that it cannot be easily defined; or, rather, it cannot be defined. One cannot simply say ‘Destruction is X,’ because such a statement can itself be subjected to destruction. The point of destruction is that one can put any statement into question – one can expose the deceptive totality of any knowledge by destructing it. Therefore, a concept like destruction resists definition. This is exactly the point Derrida makes in his ‘Letter to a Japanese Friend’ in which he tries to explain the impossibility of defining deconstruction....
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In the introductory Part I outlined the main argument of this book, which problematizes the question of positioning within organization theory. I argued that the question of positioning organization is related to the concept of hegemony,... more
In the introductory Part I outlined the main argument of this book, which problematizes the question of positioning within organization theory. I argued that the question of positioning organization is related to the concept of hegemony, which describes the project of positioning as impossibility. A conception of the impossibility of organization, however, is not part of a so called postmodern project of political relativism. Instead, it opens up and even demands possibilities of radical social change that involve questions of political strategies of organization. In Part II of this book I will discuss a range of philosophies that will allow me to conceptualize the impossibility of organization. As will become apparent, impossibility has something to do with speculation, and all philosophies discussed in this part of the book are speculative in nature in the sense that they negate, or deposition, established positions and explore possibilities of affirmatively creating new positions. I will argue that it is this simultaneity of depositioning and repositioning that characterize the event of politics described by these philosophies. Part of what I try to do in this book is to read between the lines of what are sometimes regarded as different philosophical traditions in order to make productive use of them. This 'making use' can be related to Benjamin's (1999f) conception of reading, which, in his view, should not be aimed at trying to reveal the origin or true intension of a work. Instead, reading is always a translating of text, which must be understood as an affirmative destruction of an author. The aim of Part II is not to present the wholeness of philosophical texts. Instead, I will see these texts as fragments that need to be translated. For Benjamin, this is the only way to do justice to a text: to destruct and translate it into a new text. The destruction of philosophical texts attempted here aims at exploring the philosophical understanding of the event of politics, which is of importance for conceptualizing the impossibility of organization and formulating a political project of repositioning organization theory.
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Slavoj Žižek has produced a plethora of books over the past 15 years (at the rate of over one a year), many of which are all curiously alike, as he recycles compulsively a limited number of key themes. Yet, one never feels any sense of... more
Slavoj Žižek has produced a plethora of books over the past 15 years (at the rate of over one a year), many of which are all curiously alike, as he recycles compulsively a limited number of key themes. Yet, one never feels any sense of sterile repetition. In revisiting a topic, he often sheds new light on it, and so continues the conversation he seems to be having with himself. Žižek is not much interested in establishing a rational, sensible dialogue with his readers. Instead, he is a firm believer in clear-cut positions. His writing is invariably crisp, provocative, and devoid of any coyness. One of Žižek’s favourite one-liners is (paraphrasing Freud): “Why are you saying that you’re only giving a modest opinion when what you are giving is only a modest opinion”. Žižek doesn’t ‘do’ modesty.
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But the other night is always other. It is only during the day one believes to understand it, to seize it. In the day it is that secret which can be revealed, that darkness that awaits to be unveiled. The passion for the night only the... more
But the other night is always other. It is only during the day one believes to understand it, to seize it. In the day it is that secret which can be revealed, that darkness that awaits to be unveiled. The passion for the night only the day can feel. It is only during the day that death can be desired, contemplated, decided: attained. It is only during the day the other night can show itself as that love which can break all ties, and desires an ending and to join the abyss. But in the night it is that which one cannot be united, the reiteration that will never end, the saturation that possess nothing, a sparkling of something without ground and without depth. (Maurice Blanchot, L'inspiration, 1955)
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As Martin Jay notes in his Downcast Eyes, the optical mechanism of vision has been understood principally as a biological function, at least since the time of Kepler whose work was instrumental for establishing the modern laws of the... more
As Martin Jay notes in his Downcast Eyes, the optical mechanism of vision has been understood principally as a biological function, at least since the time of Kepler whose work was instrumental for establishing the modern laws of the biological physics of human seeing. According to these laws, we are able to see because light rays are transmitted through the cornea and the lenses of the eyeball to the rear of the retina. This visual information is then passed on to the human brain through the optical nerve. The brain then processes this information and produces an 'image', which we are able to see with the impression that the object in question is 'in front of us'. Image, light, vision, perception. It's a biological process like any other.
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It appears that certain aphasiacs, when shown various differently coloured skeins of wool on a table top, are consistently unable to arrange them into any coherent pattern; as though that simple rectangle were unable to serve in their... more
It appears that certain aphasiacs, when shown various differently coloured skeins of wool on a table top, are consistently unable to arrange them into any coherent pattern; as though that simple rectangle were unable to serve in their case as a homogeneous and neutral space in which things could be placed so as to display at the same time the continuous order of their identities or differences as well as the semantic field of their denomination. Within this simple space in which things are normally arranged and given names, the aphasiac will create a....
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Our paper will start with a straight forward commodity chain analysis, outlining where bottled water comes from, how it is packaged, how it is transported to reach the furthest corners of the world, and what happens to the disposed... more
Our paper will start with a straight forward commodity chain analysis, outlining where bottled water comes from, how it is packaged, how it is transported to reach the furthest corners of the world, and what happens to the disposed bottles. We give an estimation of the resources involved in producing, distributing and marketing of bottled water. Some financial
figures and data about leading multinational companies will be provided to understand the economic value that is created by the bottled water industry.
figures and data about leading multinational companies will be provided to understand the economic value that is created by the bottled water industry.
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The past – his past, the past of state socialism – usually enters the text of Slavoj Žižek by way of a joke. For example, “take the good old joke about the difference between Soviet-style bureaucratic Socialism and Yugoslav... more
The past – his past, the past of state socialism – usually enters the text of Slavoj Žižek by way of a joke. For example, “take the good old joke about the difference between Soviet-style bureaucratic Socialism and Yugoslav self-management Socialism: in Russia, members of the nomenklatura, the representatives of the ordinary people, drive themselves in expensive limousines, while in Yugoslavia, ordinary people themselves ride in limousines through their representatives”. Why does Žižek tell us this joke? What is its use? What exactly does Žižek hope to achieve by telling us jokes from his old state socialist past, which are spread throughout his manifold books.