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Apologies for cross postings. Please see the following Call for Papers. Critical Management Studies Research Workshop Montreal, Aug 4-5, 2010 Stream Title: Redemption: Possibilities for Salvation and Liberation in Organizations Conveners: Angela Hope ([log in to unmask]) Peter Case ([log in to unmask]) Matthew Eriksen ([log in to unmask]) Scott Taylor ([log in to unmask]) Heather Hopfl ([log in to unmask]) The CMS Division of the AOM will conduct a research workshop immediately prior to the 2010 Academy of Management meetings in Montreal in August 2010. The workshop will begin mid-morning of Wednesday Aug 4 and run till the evening of Thursday Aug 5. We are coordinating a stream called “Redemption” in this workshop, and seek submissions from interested researchers. What does or might redemption mean in a workplace context? Can individual employees be redeemed? Or from a macro-perspective, can an organization itself be redeemed? This stream explores the interface between critical management studies and religious studies, theology, and/or spirituality. The discourse on soteriology deals with the study of salvation/redemption theory which is a universal theme within world religions and spiritual practices. Max Weber (1922) contends the need for salvation is universal and integral to human experience. How the notion of redemption manifests in organizations is the focus of this stream. In other words what does the workplace contribute to the redemptive experience? How does the organizational member attain or experience redemption? Does a person experience redemption through work relationships? Is it the toiling and laboring of work itself that is salvific or something else? Redemption, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, is typically understood to signify a process of being expiated from something ‘lesser’ in order to achieve a salvific status. Usually, the ‘lesser’ connotes something internal to the self—a sinful state (Powell, 2008). However, this is only one understanding of redemption. Other understandings denote redemption to symbolize an experience of liberation from suffering or something external to the self where the individual is not culpable necessarily. Yet other meanings of redemption are synonymous with terms like ‘human flourishing’ and ‘transformation.’ How do these different meanings relate to work or any other type of organization? There are two ways to approach these general questions—one is from a micro-level focusing on the individual and the second is from a macro-level focusing on a collective group or the organization itself as the unit of analysis. The notion that an organization itself can be redeemed is a topic deserving further exploration. Many scandals have erupted in organizations (e.g. Enron, Catholic Church) in which the organizational image and reputation has been tarnished. Can these organizations be redeemed in the aftermath of a scandal? And further what about those organizations who have not necessarily committed ‘sins’? In terms of the micro-approach, there are many possible pathways to conceptualize how redemption and the organization intersect. In Christian soteriology or salvation theory, Augustine writes extensively on how it is the will of the individual that is the site of redemption. In order for one to achieve salvation, the will must be oriented to the Good (Augustine & Wand, 1963). Others like Thomas Aquinas contend the seat of redemption to be situated in the intellect or through knowledge (Davies, 2006). Both regard the body as that which can ‘get in the way’ of redemption; it must be tempered in order for the will or intellect to orient itself towards what is salvific, godly, divine. Further it is described as a static event rather than a process, a point that process thinkers have noted. In work, home, or volunteer organizations, the site from which redemptive experiences occur may differ on the type of organization, labor, and cultural factors. Does the body play a role in the redemptive experience or were Augustine and Aquinas correct in their assumptions? In light of the above, this stream attempts explore the following: 1. Change management, organizational change, and soteriological pursuits in the organization. 2. How the insights of postmodern theologies and liberation theologies – process theology, black liberation, feminist/womanist, mujerista, and queer theology - can inform and influence management and organizing focusing on the theme of redemption 3. Storytelling and salvation, organizational narratives, histories, as redemptive narratives. 4. The organization itself as redeemed in the aftermath of trauma or corruption. Can an organization influence turnover, absenteeism, and burnout and how do these mundane positivist constructs relate to the theme of redemption 5. Evil, theodicy, and the quest for liberation from suffering—e.g sexism, racism, heterosexism, and other forms of discrimination at work. Where is redemption rooted from in this context? Is the mind, body, or the will the seat of redemption in the organizational context? The motivation for the workshop is simple: neither the PDW nor the main program events at the AOM give us enough opportunity to engage in in-depth discussion of papers in critical management studies. Therefore this workshop will be organized as a series of parallel streams (working groups), with each stream comprising of people who have contributed papers on a well-defined topic (perhaps with some invited discussants), working together over the course of the day-and-a-half, discussing the papers in depth. In order to maximize discussion, authors will not present their own papers, but rather participants will be asked to present and discuss each others' papers. We will also arrange a couple of plenary sessions and some social time where all the participants come together. We are yet to finalize the cost of the workshop, but we hope to be able to offer low-cost accommodation during the event, and dovetail it with the AOM meetings, especially those events involving the CMS Division. We will finalize the details quickly on the expenses of the workshop. If you wish to be part of this stream, please submit a 250 word abstract to [log in to unmask] and [log in to unmask] by January 15th, 2010. Please note that submissions can be concurrently on review at the regular AOM 2010 conference as well. The submission of an abstract constitutes a good-faith agreement to submit a full paper for the stream by June 1, 2010 if the paper is accepted. The final paper should be less than 8000 words in length. References: (Augustine & Wand, 1963; Case, 2008; Weber, 1993) Augustine, & Wand, J. (1963). City of God. London,: Oxford University Press. Davies, B. (2006). Aquinas's Summa theologiae : critical essays. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Powell, S. M. (2008). Discovering our Christian faith : an introduction to theology. Kansas City, Mo.: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City. Weber, M. (1993). The sociology of religion. Boston: Beacon Press.