Organizing Half-Things: Knowing, Theorizing and Studying Atmospheres

Abstract

Prompted by the recent prominence of the notion of atmosphere in the study of organization, in this paper we take a step back to discuss and reflect the underpinnings of atmospheric theory and their implications for knowing, theorizing and studying organizational atmospheres. To do so, we sketch a genealogy of the atmospheric. Drawing upon the wider remit of atmospheric thought in social and cultural theory, we then discuss the onto-epistemological, methodological and political implications of organizational atmospherics, suggesting a vocabulary and sensibility for future atmospheric inquiries.