Posthuman affirmative ethics relies upon a fluid, nomadic conception of the ethical subject who develops affective, material and immaterial connections to multiple others. Our purpose in this paper is to consider what posthuman affirmative business ethics would look like, and to reflect on the shift in thinking and practice this would involve. The need for a revised understanding of human–animal relations in business ethics is amplified by crises such as climate change and pandemics that are related to ecologically destructive business practices such as factory farming. In this analysis, we use feminist speculative fiction as a resource for reimagination and posthuman ethical thinking. By focusing on three ethical movements experienced by a central character named Toby in Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy, we show how she is continually becoming through affective, embodied encounters with human and nonhuman others. In the discussion, we consider the vulnerability that arises from openness to affect which engenders heightened response-ability to and with, rather than for, multiple others. This expanded concept of subjectivity enables a more relational understanding of equality that is urgently needed in order to respond affirmatively to posthuman futures.
Continuing the work of feminist organizational studies scholars who have urged researchers to find ways of presenting knowledge and writing "differently," we discuss the contributions of Ursula Le Guin whose fiction and nonfiction have had a profound influence on feminist theory development. We provide an overview of Le Guin's progenitors, her oeuvre, and provide an explanation and assessment of her influence on feminist thought including the concept of "bag-lady storytelling," speculative thought experiments, and her process of renewal through subversion. We demonstrate her potential for feminist theorizing through analysis of two of her works: the novel "The left hand of darkness," and her short story "Sur." We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our article for organizational studies, and reinforce how her writings are a treasure-trove for writing differently to both subvert and offer more diverse alternatives, and we ask for more work using feminist speculative fiction.
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