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16-17 September 2014 School of Management, University of Leicester, UK Conference website: https://www2.le.ac.uk/conference/critical Call for papers The meaning of criticality in critical management studies (CMS) has been always open to discussion and negotiation.* Among others, the word ‘critical’ has been used as a reference to the Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School, to labour process theory, to critical realism, and to postmodern and poststructuralist approaches applied and adapted to organization and management theory (see Chapters 2-5 in Alvesson, Bridgman and Willmott, 2009). The CMS acronym has recently been extended, critically, as cynical, comfortable, or constructive (Hartz, Rätzer & Weik, 2013), or clinical (Butler, 2008) management studies. But it could potentially mean something else altogether. These self-reflective considerations and the appropriation of critical thinking by mainstream management (education) discourse (e.g. ABS, 2012) suggest that critique may have been hollowed out, has become a mere technique (Perriton, 2013) or is now too institutionalized (Bridgman & Stephens, 2008) as a result of the biannual CMS conference, critical journals and even some critical business schools. A number of participants at a recent CMS workshop in Paris noted that a lot of the research being done by PhD students under the CMS umbrella doesn’t seem to be that critical at all and would in fact fit very well within a mainstream business school. On the other hand, discussions about the meaning of ‘critical’ surfaced after almost every presentation in the Doctoral Stream at the 8th CMS conference. Thus, the organizers think, it makes sense to gather current doctoral students researching business, management and organization from a critical perspective to discuss how they understand the ‘critical’ in CMS. Possible topics could be guided by, without being limited to, the following questions: What is and what is not critical research on business, management, or organization? How do you understand criticality in your own research? Is criticality something that has to do with the chosen theories or methodology, the researcher’s worldview, or the topic being researched? Critical of what – management studies, managers, managerialism, capitalism, or something else? Does critical imply Leftist? Anti-neoliberal? Anti-capital(ist)? Anti-market? Can critique be defined positively? What research is critical enough? (*Work that could also be classified as CMS may, especially outside the UK, fall into the realms of other scientific fields, like organizational sociology, political economy, consumer research or philosophy but maybe even communication or gender studies. Please have a look at the conference website or contact the organizers if you’re unsure whether this conference is for you.) Conference structure The conference is intended to create an environment in which concepts of and approaches to being critical can be openly discussed without the aim to arrive at a consensual definition but rather to explore various possibilities. PhD students are invited to present on some aspect of criticality in their own research for 15 minutes, concerning their theory or methodology or else, with ample space for discussion to follow. Each participant is expected to act as a respondent to someone else’s paper. Academic respondents are to be confirmed, but staff members from the University of Leicester, Lund University, the University of Essex, the Université catholique de Louvain and others have expressed their interest to participate. The organizers are currently planning a closing roundtable discussion about the ‘critical turn’ in various social scientific fields to compare their histories and draw out similarities and differences. Submissions Abstracts, of 300-500 words, should be submitted to [log in to unmask] by the 1st May 2014, including your name, affiliation and contact details. All abstracts will be reviewed by the Scientific Committee of the conference, and participants will be notified of acceptance of their papers the end of May 2014. Conference papers in the range of 4-8,000 words will be expected by 18th August 2014. Any queries should also be addressed to the email address provided above. Registration fee and travel grants Registration fees are set at £10 per person for the two days including coffee/tea breaks but the organizers would encourage participants who can afford it in their institutional budget to pay a somewhat higher participation fee (£20 or 30) to help us fund travel bursaries. We are currently seeking additional funding to cover lunches and a conference dinner too and will be able to confirm this closer to the date. It is the organizers’ intention to attract participants from across CMS in terms of field of research, theoretical perspective, methodological choice as well as geographical spread. To this end, sponsored by the University of Leicester School of Management, we are delighted to offer a limited number of travel grants to encourage the participation of PhD students who wouldn’t normally have access to such support at their own institution. To apply for these, please include a short grant application statement (100-200 words) describing how you would benefit from participation at the conference as well as your travel costs. We would also like to ask for an official letter from your supervisor(s), PhD director, or Head of Department, stating that you would not normally have access to travel/conference grants through your own institution. The organizers unfortunately cannot guarantee that all applicants will be awarded a travel grant that covers their whole trip. A number of free places of accommodation will be organized by the local PhD community at the University of Leicester. The University of Leicester School of Management The School of Management is home to a great number of scholars who work in the critical tradition. This is reflected in the work of the striving PhD community who engage with various topics adopting a critical approach in the fields of the organization and ‘management’ of social movements, consumption, education, migration, science and technology, etc. Staying at Leicester for a few days after the conference may give you the opportunity to participate at the annual symposium of the Centre for Philosophy and Political Economy. Organizing committee (at the University of Leicester) Jessica Fei Marton Racz Thomas Swann Bob Townley Xanthe Whittaker Scientific committee Astrid Huopalainen (Åbo Akademi University, Finland) Christian Garmann Johnsen (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark) Jaromir Junne (Helmut-Schmidt-Universität, Germany) Emilio Marti (Universität Zürich, Switzerland) Julien Raone (Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium) Maria Vlachou (University of Leicester, UK) Ewa Wojciechowska (Jagiellonian University of Cracow, Poland) TBC Academic respondents TBC References ABS (2012) Business Schools Seizing the Future. London: The Association of Business Schools. Available from: http://www.associationofbusinessschools ... 20824_abs_ policybooklet_web.pdf. Last accessed: 14 Oct 2013. Alvesson, M., Bridgman, T. and Willmott, H. (eds.) (2009) The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bridgman, T. and Stephens, M. (2008) “Institutionalizing Critique: A Problem of Critical Management Studies,” ephemera 8(3): 258–270. Butler, N. (2008) “Critical and Clinical Management Studies,” ephemera 8(1): 7–25. Hartz, R., Rätzer, M. and Weik, E. (2013) Cynical? Constructive? Comfortable? Critical? – Rethinking the C in Critical Management Studies. Stream proposal for the 8th International Conference in Critical Management Studies. University of Manchester, 10-12 July. Available from: http://wirtsoz-dgs. mpifg.de/dokumente/proposal_CMS_2013.pdf. Last accessed: 14 Oct 2013. Perriton, L. (2013) “Critical reflection. Has criticality been reduced to technique?” Paper presented at the 8th International Conference in Critical Management Studies. University of Manchester, 10-12 July.