Amazing Tales: Organization Studies as Science Fiction

Parker, Martin; Higgins, Matthew; Lightfoot, Geoffrey; Smith, Warren S.

doi:10.1177/135050849964001

Cited by 29 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Indeed, such a view is becoming increasingly widespread to the point where it is now quite common to see issues of management and organization explored through the full spectrum of popular cultural forms, such as novels (Knights and Willmott 1999), science fiction (Parker et al 1999), TV cartoons (Rhodes 2001), plays (Feldman 2003), and popular music (Clegg and Hardy 1996). It is perhaps worth reciting here some of the arguments made by such authors in terms of thinking through the productive value of popular culture as a field of inquiry.…”

Section: Military and Masculinity As Mediated Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Military, masculinity and mediated representations: (con)fusing the real and the reel

Godfrey

2009

Culture and Organization

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In this paper I argue that it is time to rethink the military within Management and Organization Theory. The starting point for this discussion is a juxtaposition of the (lack of) study of the military within Management and Organization Theory compared with the recent (and sustained) interest in depicting war, the military and the military subject within popular culture. I argue that the military is a gendered and gendering organization that has wider discursive effects on the lived experience of masculinity. Having laid down these conceptual claims, I then argue for the value of film, and popular culture more broadly, as an important source of 'knowledge' about organizational life. To elaborate this claim, I conduct a close reading of four films that represent post-Cold War conflicts and identify three recurring themes that tell particular 'truths' of the experiences of the contemporary military organizational subject. I conclude that there is something meaningful and relevant in the contemporary popular culture of war that can help address the limitations of the exploration of the military within Management and Organization Theory.

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Section: Military and Masculinity As Mediated Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Military, masculinity and mediated representations: (con)fusing the real and the reel

Godfrey

2009

Culture and Organization

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“…Greenwood 2000), poetry (e.g. Weick 1995), television cartoons (e.g., Rhodes 2001bRhodes , 2002, science fiction (e.g., Parker, Higgins, Lightfoot and Smith 1999), plays (Feldman, 2003), and popular music (e.g. Clegg and Hardy 1996;Rhodes 2004).…”

Section: Fiction and Organization Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Writing Responsibly: Narrative Fiction and Organization Studies

2005

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In this paper we reflect on the use of fictional source material and fictional formats in organization studies in order to explore issues of responsibility in the writing of research. We start by examining how research using fictional narrative methods has worked to radically destabilise distinctions between what is real and what is fictional. In relation to this we ask the question: if a research account can be regarded as fiction, what are the implications of this insight for the responsibilities of authors? Opposing the view that using fiction necessarily leads to an 'anything goes' relativism, we argue that a recognition of the fictionality of research texts implies a heightened sense of researcher-author responsibility. We see our main contribution as extending existing discussions of reflexivity in research into a consideration of issues of ethics and responsibility as it relates to the textuality of research writing. To do so we draw on Derrida's theorisation of responsibility and undecidability as a way of problematising and discussing the ethics of research in relation to its textuality. We argue that the explicit borrowing from fictional genres evinces the essentially 'written' and fictional status of research papers, and highlights the ethical dimensions associated with decisions related to representational strategies and authorial subjectivity. 'The perfect description of Thomas industries,' Mike exclaimed. 'We help lay the traps. We punch out, but don't stop working. It shows on our faces. Our minds are crippled!' Charlie and Randy nodded. 'The noise from the control room, that damn Thomas industries sign, the gyp mountain, smokestacks… every night this mess is with me before I go to sleep.' Charlie and Randy were silent. They arrived just in time to punch in before the 7 o'clock whistle. 'Goddamn whistles,' Mike grumbled. 'Remind me of grade school.' (Jermier 1985: 71-72) There were 40 or 50 different routes, maybe more, each case was different, you were never able to learn any of them, you had to get your mail up and ready before 8 a.m. for the truck despatches, and Jonstone would take no excuses. The subs routed their magazines on corners, went without lunch, and died in the streets. Johnstone would have us start casing the routes 30 minutes late-spinning in his chair in his red shirt-'Chinaski take route 539!' We'd start a halfhour short but were still expected to get the mail up and out and be back on time. And once or twice a week, already beaten, fagged and fucked we had to make the night pickups, and the schedule on the board was impossible-the truck wouldn't go that fast.

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“…Can this claim apply to all or even to most genres in popular culture? Martin Parker and his colleagues (1999) edited a special issue of Organization dedicated to science fiction. Their idea was not ‘to add science fiction to the list of things that might be “useful” for management, but instead to try to disturb the discipline itself’ (pp.…”

Section: Introduction: Popular Culture and Organizingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women and Work in Family Soap Operas

Czarniawska

Eriksson‐Zetterquist

Renemark

2011

Gender Work & Organization

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The starting point of this article is the assumption that images of work and organizing produced by popular culture both reflect and shape actual practices. Among various genres of popular culture, soap operas deserve more attention. This article analyses three local soap operas: one Italian, one Swedish and one South African. All three focus on family life — a focus typical for the genre. We trace the side topic of women at work and women and work, on the assumption that its marginality renders it less likely to contain intentional messages from the creators of the series, and thus more likely to reflect the taken‐for‐granted beliefs underpinning everyday life and contributing to their reproduction and maintenance. We trace the series' connections to local contexts but also look for commonalities that may be characteristic of this genre of popular culture.

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Amazing Tales: Organization Studies as Science Fiction

Cited by 29 publications

References 9 publications

Military, masculinity and mediated representations: (con)fusing the real and the reel

Military, masculinity and mediated representations: (con)fusing the real and the reel

Writing Responsibly: Narrative Fiction and Organization Studies

Women and Work in Family Soap Operas

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