> CRITICAL MANAGEMENT STUDIES RESEARCH WORKSHOP
> ATLANTA
> AUGUST 11-12, 2006
>
> Studying Power in Organizations Stream
>
>
>
> Stream Convenors: Stewart Clegg, UTS
>
s.clegg@uts.edu.au
>
> David Courpasson, EM-Lyon
>
courpasson@em-lyon.com
>
> Nelson Phillips, Imperial College London
>
n.phillips@imperial.ac.uk
>
> The study of power in organizations has been more-or-less a focus of
> attention for organization and management researchers since the founding
> of the field. A range of different theoretical perspectives have been
> adopted, and various methodological approaches used, with rather mixed
> results. Overall, although significant progress has been made, much work
> remains to be done, particularly in terms of connecting with the broader
> streams of social theory within which power has been theorized. At its
> most basic, our understanding of power has been limited by a gap between
> social and organization theory in this respect. Much of organization and
> management theory seems to have cultivated a deliberate 'mental hygiene'
> in its approaches to power with respect to the development of work in
> European social theory by figures such as Lukes, Foucault, Bourdieu and
> others.
> In this stream, we will encourage researchers to draw on a wide body of
> work to focus on different approaches to the study of power and politics
> in organizations from both a theoretical and methodological point of
> view. We would like to engage a wide range of participants from as
> diverse a set of perspectives as possible in order to encourage broad
> debate and cross-fertilization. Our hope is to move forward an agenda
> that will allow us to expand our understanding of power in an
> organizational context. We believe that there is a growing interest in
> this topic and that this is an ideal good moment for a careful
> consideration of this fundamental question.
>
> While any topic related to the study of power in organizations is
> welcome, potential topics for papers that would be of particular
> interest include:
>
>
>
> * New theoretical perspectives for understanding power in
> organizations
> * Approaches that span micro-, meta, and macro-perspectives
> * Approaches that combine/contrast different theoretical
> frameworks
> * Critiques of existing methodological or theoretical approaches
> used in the study of power
> * Work that integrates a concern for power with existing theories
> of organization and management theory (i.e., work that integrates
> concerns for power with institutional theory or population ecology)
> * Critiques of the lack of a power perspective in existing
> theoretical perspectives in management
> * Alternative methodologies for the empirical study of power
> * New substantive topics in the study of power in organizations
>
> Abstract (500 words max) must be e-mailed to Nelson Phillips by April 1,
> 2006. Final decisions will be communicated to authors by April 15, 2006.
> For more general information on the workshop please see the website at:
>
>
http://group.aomonline.org/cms/Meetings/Atlanta/Workshop06/Altanta06main.htm
>
>
>
>
>
>