Stream Announcement and Call for Papers
The 6th International Critical Management Studies Conference,
13th-15th July 2009,
Warwick Business School,
The University of Warwick,
UK.
Stream Title - Loss and Mourning in Organizational Life
Convenors:
Leanne Cutcher ? University of Sydney
Philip Hancock ? University of Warwick
Melissa Tyler ? Loughborough University
The Idea
For Freud (1991), mourning is a necessary precondition for psychological well-being. It is, for
him, a form of work that allows us to reconcile ourselves with loss and move forwards in our lives,
making new attachments to new objects, people and places. In a more contemporary vein, Derrida
(1996) considered mourning integral to the possibility of an inter-subjectivity that accepts the
necessary transience of our relationship with, and to the other. From these perspectives,
therefore, without the ability to mourn as part of a constant process of being and becoming we
would be unable to establish truly ethical relations, condemned to constantly trying to possess the
?other?, caught up in what would inevitably degenerate into an expression of tyranny. Yet despite
the obvious interest such ideas might evoke what, more specifically, might they have to say about
work, its organization, and management?
The Experience
To anyone concerned with either the study or practice of management, the mantra of change or
die is, somewhat ironically, almost a constant. Sometimes it is justified with reference to vulgar
formulations of evolutionary science, and at other times, more straightforwardly, by the apparent
volatility of global markets and the demands of technical innovation. However it is justified
though, this purported need for change and its management has become an integral component
of contemporary business rhetoric. But at what cost does such a mantra come for those faced with
the unending loss of an unstable and transient past, and the demand for a reconciliation with an
uncertain and insecure future? Is it that this compulsion to constantly reconcile ourselves to the
loss of familiar ways of working, familiar colleagues and familiar communities, and to constantly
embrace the new, makes unique demands not only on our capacity to mourn, but also on our very
conception of loss and reconciliation itself. Is it that, to reappropriate Rose?s (1996) terminology,
within contemporary organizational settings mourning has indeed become ?the law?? That a
constant process of mourning as overcoming is not only necessary in a Derridian sense, but that it
has become a required aspect of company etiquette, one symbolic of personal commitment?
The Invitation
In this stream we invite papers that engage with these, and related questions, through the prism
of mourning. That is, we ask contributors to reflect critically on the extent to which mourning has
become an integral and necessary part of everyday organizational life, the conditions under which
this might occur, and the consequences this might have for those who are subject to such a
demand. This may, or may not directly relate to questions surrounding the management and the
experience of change as alluded to above. It may also relate, for instance, to the ways in which
management resources and responds to more literal processes of mourning within organizations,
such as in the case of actual bereavement or significant material or cultural loss, or to the
symbolic and cultural representations of mourning that organizations draw upon in a myriad of
circumstances.
The stream will invite both empirical and theoretical contributions, as well as proposals for
discussion sessions, roundtables etc. It will not be tied to any particular disciplinary perspective
but will seek to encourage insights from a range of traditions including those of sociology,
psychology, philosophy, history and anthropology among others. Issues that could be explored
during the stream might include, but will not be limited to:
? The theoretical purchase a concept of mourning might have for understanding contemporary
managerial and organizational activity.
? Experiences of loss and reconciliation during periods of rapid organizational change and
upheaval.
? The psychological implications of mourning as a condition of organizational participation.
? Gendered differentiations in the experience and management of loss and reconciliation.
? The symbolic and aesthetic management of organizational mourning.
? The loss of communities and associated spatial and/or temporal attachments as a
consequence of organizational change.
? The characteristics of polices designed to mediate loss and address processes of personal and
organizational mourning.
The Practicalities
All submissions should comprise of a 1000 words (maximum) abstract, typed in 12 point font and
single spaced. These should be sent to Abstracts for the stream (of no more than 1000 words)
should be submitted to
l.cutcher@econ.usyd.edu.au no later than November 1st 2008.
Full papers will be expected by May 1st 2009.
Website: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/conf/cms2009