FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS
The Role of the Contemplative in Workplace Organization: Exploring
Spiritualities, Theologies, Philosophies, and Ethics
CMS6 Stream
The Sixth International Critical Management Conference
July 13-15, 2009
Warwick Business School,
The University of Warwick, UK
Stream Convenors
Peter Case
UWE Bristol Business School
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Matthew Eriksen
Providence College
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Albert J. Mills
Saint Mary’s University
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Angela Hope (Lead Convenor)
Saint Mary’s University
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Stream Description:
This stream explores the interface between the academic disciplines of
Philosophy, Theology/Religious Studies and the discipline of Critical
Management Studies. Theistic or atheist, practicing or ‘not practicing,’ it is
difficult for many organizers and organizations (critical or not) in the West to
remain uninfluenced by a theological cultural conditioning rooted in classical
interpretations of Judeo Christian narratives (Hope, 2007). Should these
narratives be contained? Should they be re-interpreted? Should they be
ignored altogether and room made for other religious and spiritual influences
and practices?
The exploration of this linkage between the organization and
the ‘contemplative’ is, we suggest, foundational to understanding the nature
of contemporary organization. The discourse on spirituality is often met with
hesitation and skepticism in Critical Management Studies for various reasons
but, perhaps, primarily because of its tendency to be complicit in the
disciplining of bodies and minds in work organizations. Might it be possible,
however, to develop a critical spirituality which resists and transforms
instrumental and oppressive practices in work organizations?
In the dominant capitalist discourse and mainstream management theorizing,
spirituality has been represented as one which “treats spirituality in ahistorical
and apolitical terms as yet another neutral resource to be harnessed and
husbanded by the erstwhile custodians of organizational performance” (Case,
2008). Despite the burgeoning writing on spirituality in the field of
organization studies (OS), explorations of the relationship between the
organization of work, religion and spiritual life is hardly new to philosophy and
social science. Indeed, analysis of this nexus of relationships is foundational to
the social theorizing of Feuerbach, Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Nietzsche and
Freud. It is also present, either explicitly or implicitly, in theories of post-
modern social organization, such as propounded by Bauman, Beck, Foucault,
Lyotard, and Giddens. However, much of what passes as original contributions
to the debate on spirituality in OS – with some notable exceptions - appears
to be written in blind ignorance of this legacy. Mainstream writing on
workplace spirituality also often ignores the impact of spiritual thinkers like
Plato, Aristotle, and Anselm on Western culture and their implicit influence in
shaping contemporary organizations. In short, much of the contemporary
literature on spirituality is narrowly utilitarian and instrumental in its intent,
often concerned directly to commodify spirituality. Bell and Taylor (2003),
Case and Gosling (2007), Casey (2002), Carrette and King (2005) and Roberts
(2001) have all raised concerns about this tendency and attempted to
account for the instrumental rediscovery of organizational spirituality through
the invocation of relevant philosophy and social theory. Such writing serves as
a useful starting point for the kind of constructive critique that we hope to
pursue in this stream.
Writing in the aftermath of Nietzsche’s (in)famous ‘God is dead’ assertion,
philosophers and theologians have embarked on a journey to address the
oppressive and instrumental facets of Christian grandnarratives, tradition, and
the analgesic aspect of belief. Thus, the ‘discourse on theology’ has become
plural and should - in a postpositivist context - now be understood as
comprising theologies and spiritualities which embrace multiple perspectives
and interpretations drawn from of a variety of religious traditions. Organization
and management scholars have, arguably, an important role to play in relation
to this debate. Should theological influences and other spiritual practices be
resisted at all costs when it comes to businesses and organizations? Should
the discourse on spirituality be further expanded away from the dominating
position of modern theory using various perspectives rooted in
poststructuralism, postpositivism, postcolonialism, and critical theory? And if
the latter question is answered in the affirmative, then what directions might
postpositivist spirituality take within organization studies?
This stream invites papers which explore but are not limited to the following
areas:
• Atheistic and agnostic philosophies and organizations: pursuing
whether or not spiritualities have a place within management thought and
practice.
• How the insights of Judeo-Christian Postmodern theologies and
Liberation theologies - Black Liberation Theology, Feminist/Womanist Theology,
Mujerista Theology, Queer theology - can inform and influence management
and organization.
• The role of traditional religious ethics – e.g, Christian, Jewish,
Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist - in work organizations.
• Existentialism and organizing: philosophical explorations which link
the thoughts of Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Sartre and other existentialist thinkers
to contemporary organizational ethics.
• Platonic, Aristotelian and other metaphysical interpretations of
reality and their relevance to contemporary organization.
• ‘Care of the self’ – critical reinterpretations of Classical scholarship
and their implications for contemporary organizational ethics and spirituality
(following Hadot and Foucault).
• The nexus of culture, identity, and power in the spiritual organization.
• Spiritual epistemologies and ontologies: exploring how the ‘spiritual’
subverts, resists and/or privileges certain forms of knowledge and
interpretations of reality.
• ‘Unchurched spiritualities’: examining the contemporary trend of
being ‘spiritual but not religious’ in work organizations.
• Critical conceptions of suffering, evil, sin and redemption in relation
to management and organizational practices.
• ‘God-talk’: why is this so unsettling within the Critical Management
Studies community? Exploring critical reflexivity within CMS.
• Militarism, war, soldiering, and its linkage with theological narratives
and traditions
KEY DEADLINES:
Submission of abstracts (maximum 1000 words, A4 paper, single spaced, 12
point font) to Angela Hope at [log in to unmask] by - 1st November 2008.
Full papers to be submitted - 1st May 2009.
About the convenors:
Peter Case: currently Professor of Organization Studies, Bristol Business
School, University of the West of England, Peter served as chairperson of the
Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism from 2002-7 and is general
co-editor of Culture & Organization. He is also a member of the editorial boards
of Leadership and the Leadership & Organizational Development Journal. Peter
has held visiting scholarships at Helsinki School of Economics and the Royal
Institute of Technology of Stockholm. His research interests encompass
organizational ethics, organization theory and multicultural aspects of
management development. Recent publications include The Speed of
Organization (with S. Lilley and T. Owens, 2006: CBS & Liber) and John Adair:
the Fundamentals of Leadership (with J. Gosling and M. Witzel, 2007:
Palgrave).
Matthew Eriksen: teaches leadership and organizational behavior at
Providence College. Previously, he held positions at the University of Tampa
and U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He headed the Leadership Institute at the
Transportation Security Administration and worked for Ford Motor Company.
His research interests lie in the areas of leadership development, gender and
leadership, leadership and spirituality, diversity, organizational change, and
pedagogy.
Albert J. Mills is Professor of Management and Director of the PhD in
Management at the Sobey School of Business, at Saint Mary’s University
(Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada). He is the incoming co-Chair of the CMS
Division of the Academy of Management and co-convened the Gender and
Management Stream at the first three CMS conferences in the UK. He is the
author of twenty books and numerous articles that reflect his broad interest in
human liberation. His latest book – Sex, Strategy and the Stratosphere
(London: Routledge, 2006) – explores the impact of organizational culture on
gender and discrimination.
Angela Hope: is Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at the University of the
Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas. She received her Masters in Theological
Studies from Boston University School of Theology, and is currently a PhD
student at St. Mary’s University Sobey School of Business in Halifax, Canada.
She is a captain in the US Army Reserve. Her interests are in exploring the
impact of mobilized theological grandnarratives in organizations, specifically
the military, and the implications of this for women and marginalized others.
Angela is also an Associate Editor for the journal Gender, Work, and
Organization.
References:
Bell, E. and Taylor, S. (2003). The Elevation of Work: Pastoral Power and the
New Age Work Ethic, Organization, 10(2), pp.329-349.
Carrette, J. and King, R. (2005). Selling Spirituality: the silent takeover of
religion, London: Routledge.
Case, P. (2008). The spiritual organization: Critical reflections on the
instrumentality of workplace spirituality discourse. Paper presented
at ‘Organizations and Belief Systems’ conference, University of Tampa, 17-19
March 2008.
Case, P. and Gosling, J. (2007). Wisdom of the Moment: Premodern
Perspectives on Organizational Action, Social Epistemology, 21(2-3), pp.87-
111.
Casey, C. (2002). Critical Analysis of Organizations: Theory, Practice and
Revitalization, London: Sage.
Hope, A. (2007). Restructuring god ideologies in work spaces: A critical
catholic perspective, Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion, 4(4),
pp.505-520.
Roberts, R.H. (2001) Religion, Theology and the Human Sciences, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
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