Challenging Anglo-Saxon Dominance in Management and Organizational Knowledge

Abstract

FORUM Invited Article CHALLENGING ANGLO-SAXON DOMINANCE IN MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGEThe international scene of management and organizational knowledge (MOK) is dominated by concepts, models and theories originated in the Anglo-Saxon World. Such hegemony in the field can be understood as a form of epistemic colonialism, sustained and reproduced by power relations within the academic world (Ibarra-Colado, 2006). It is, then, pertinent to question the desirability of this state of affairs, especially in a scenario of international crisis that is challenging the long established Western global prevalence. The fact of Anglo-Saxon hegemony in MOK is not new, its consequences are clear: the exclusion or subalternization of alternative perspectives originated in other national contexts. It is hard to talk of true "international" context in the discipline if there is a continuing process of hegemony construction that blocks, or at least hinders, the participation of scholars working in non-Anglo-Saxon countries (Alcadipani & Reis Rosa, 2011). The goal of this special forum is to explore whether, and how, this hegemony can be effectively challenged.To gain attention in "international" academia, it is essential to be heard in the Englishspeaking world. Paradoxically, even those who opposed Anglo-Saxon hegemony, or more broadly the hegemony of Western thought, such as the postcolonial theorists, publish their works in English to make them known to a wider audience. An interesting example in this regard is that of the Argentine scholar Walter Mignolo, one of the most prominent theorists of postcolonialism in its Latin Americanist version and professor at Duke University. When asked why he wrote his "The idea of Latin America" in English, being an academic trained in Argentina and France, Mignolo (González, 2006) just answered "in the domain in which the book operates, I suspect there are more Spanish speakers who read English than the other way around". This suggests that the key to success in social sciences is largely the ability to participate in the academic system of the Anglosphere. Would Mignolo have acquired the same theoretical relevance if he had developed his academic career in his native Argentina? It is highly unlikely. Does this mean that scholars from peripheral countries must spend some time working in the Anglosphere, or even their whole academic career there, as did Ernesto Laclau, to effectively spread their ideas?Although there are examples to the contrary -such as Enrique Dussel, an Argentine philosopher currently residing in Mexico and a prominent representative of Latin American social thought; Jacques Rancière, one of the most important French philosophers who offers a radically new conception of emancipation; and, the Mexican organizational theorist Eduardo Ibarra-Colado, the alluring power of the material and symbolic resources (i.e., prestige) provided by Englishspeaking countries, and mainly the U.S. and U.K., is a decisive factor in the construction of the epistemic hegemony of the...

Periódicos Brasileiros Da Área De Administração No Contexto De Internacionalização Da Produção Científica

“…(Rosa & Alves, 2011:263). Paradoxalmente, mesmo aqueles que se pretendem opor à hegemonia anglosaxônica, para ter atenção na academia "internacional", têm que publicar seus trabalhos em inglês para torná-los conhecidos por um público mais amplo (Gantman, Yousfi & Alcadipani, 2015).…”

Joining the Sociomaterial Debate

“…For instance, the strong stream associated with post-colonial and post-development thinking provides a view of profound and radical delusion and disappointment with the exploitative thinking paradigm that has dominated Europe and the Americas for the last 500 years, based on the processes of colonization, imperialism, neoliberalism, and market-based globalization with a focus on economic growth despite human well-being (Esteva 1992;Escobar, 2011;Gomes, 2012). This dominance also characterizes academia (Alves & Pozzebon, 2013;Alcadipani et al, 2013). Not only for language reasons, but mainly due to experiential and historical interpretive frames that are quite distinct, researchers operating in the so-called developed regions dominate the intellectual debate and impose their rules and vocabulary.…”

Plagiarism, Replication of Published Material without Citation and the Policy of the European Management Review

“…The EURAM constituency covers a large number of countries that each has its own first language, though English has been established as the lingua franca of publication. This places those who speak English as a second language at a potential disadvantage (González‐Alcaide et al ., ; Ӧzbilgin, ; Gantman et al ., ; Pascale, ). It may also deny access to knowledge written in other languages to those not commanding that language; which may provide some justification for text recycling (cf, Horbach and Halffman, ).…”