Conference Call: Polyphony and dialogism as ways of organizing

April 29-30, 2006, University of Essex

Organised jointly by Essex Management Centre (University of Essex) and
Centre for Culture and Social Theory (Keele University).

This two-day conference takes the notions of polyphony and dialogism as
starting points for exploring ways in which philosophy and literary theory
can inform organizational research and practice.

The concepts of polyphony and dialogism were developed early last century by
the Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin as alternatives to the univocality
of literary texts and represent part of his challenge to traditional
monological relations between author and heroes in novelistic writing.
Conceived as dialogic, narrative becomes an intersection of different
accents and voices, which are fundamentally ambivalent in taking on meaning
in relation to each other, rather than some absolute point of reference. The
polyphonic principle keeps those voices as valued and authoritative as that
of the writer. Bakthin’s propositions on novels in particular and language
in general (heteroglossia) call for a world that is inhabited by different
voices, differing vocabularies, and disparate dialects, which are bound to
produce multiple stories of that world. What matters then are not single
voices, but the relations between them.

The ideas of polyphony and dialogism have been explored in the fields of
philosophy, literary theory and linguistics, but their relevance to
organisation studies still awaits recognition. This two-day conference aims
to initiate and develop such an interest. We propose to go beyond
understanding polyphony and dialogism as types of text and explore them,
instead, as ways of organising.  Bakhtin’s terminology is evocative,
intellectually stimulating and relevant to organisation studies, which is
today a changing, reflexive and eclectic field that draws on different
disciplines, no less than on literature and philosophy. Increasing
globalisation, mixed identities, as well as a well-noted dissolution of
traditional structures of authority, all indicate a more general transition
from the univocal toward a multi-voiced world in which speech is
heteroglossic, strategy is polyphonic, and research writing takes the form
of different genres and authorships. Aside from its more specific
applications, Bakhtin’s critique of monologic author-hero relations also
leads us to re-consider the logic of scientific writing with its univocality
and objectivity. The rooting of his philosophy in the analysis of literary
works (for example in the novels by Dostoyevsky and Rablais) provides an
inspiration to explore alternative sources, while his revision of dualistic
philosophies underpinning much Western social theory and practices offers
further avenues for expanding ontological and epistemological positions.

In wishing to explore these strands further, this conference takes an
interdisciplinary approach and invites contributions that address, but are
not limited to, the following themes:

- Applications and elaborations of Bakhtin’s thought in organisation
studies, such as globalisation, organizational change, strategy, identity
etc.
- Political and ethical implications of notions of dialogism, polyphony,
heteroglossia etc. in organisational contexts.
- Textual and authorial strategies employed by organizational researchers
and practitioners.
- Questioning the boundaries between scientific and creative writing.
- Author-reader-text relations in the production of meaning.
- Polyphony and multi-voicedness in research accounts; rhetorical figures
and literary devices used in 'recording' organizational phenomena.
- Insights from literary theory and writing; organization theory as a
literary genre.
- New ways of theorizing the relationship between self and other;
formulating alternative principles of sense-making and organizing.
- Theorising research and organisational events in terms of relationships
based on logic different to that of systems, structures etc.

Theoretical as well as empirical contributions are welcome. The number of
participants will be limited to 30 people to allow space and time for close
interaction and in-depth discussions.

Deadline for abstracts (no more than 500 words) - 15 February 2006.

Please send your abstracts to conference organizers at [log in to unmask]

The conference will be held in Wivenhoe House Hotel, an 18th century manor
delightfully situated in its own rolling parkland grounds within the campus
of the University of Essex on the edge of Colchester, the oldest recorded
town in Britain. For more information see
http://www.wivenhoehousehotel.co.uk/ and http://www.visitcolchester.com/.

Conference organisers:
Olga Belova (University of Essex)
Ian King (University of Essex)
Rolland Munro (Keele University)
Martyna Sliwa (University of Essex)
http://www.essex.ac.uk/afm/emc/index.shtm
http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/stt/home.htm