A (fictional yet plausible) conversation between friends at the pub:
Jim takes a long sip of his pint and shakes his head. "I swear, these massive companies just don't give a shit anymore. Amazon workers pissing in bottles, oil execs getting bonuses while the planet burns..."
Jamie slams her glass down. "Exactly! We need to tear the whole system down! Destroy the corporation!"
Jess picks at a beer mat, looking thoughtful. "I mean... yeah, it's fucked. But like, what then? We all go back to farming turnips?"
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This AOM 2025 symposium takes the task of exploring alternatives to the corporation seriously. Drawing inspiration from Erik Olin Wright's 'Real Utopias Project', it brings together researchers who each studied (or are studying) an organizational form that could be a 'real utopia', a desirable and viable alternative to the status quo. Come join us for a discussion of, amongst others, cooperatives, Indigenous forms of organizing, social movements, holacracy, DAOs, B-Corps, and religious communities.
Presenters:
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Juliane Reinecke
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Chris Marquis
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Ana Maria Peredo
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Michael Lee
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Constanza Sartoris
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Jonas Friedrich
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Meredith Lehman
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Jonas Spengler
Discussants:
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Jerry Davis
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Mette Morsing
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Martin Parker
⚠️ A word of caution: This will not be your typical AOM talk. No discussion of theoretical contributions, no advice for junior scholars. Each presenter will showcase their real utopia and our discussants will then theorize across the margins, identifying common patterns and tensions among the cases.
💭 Come join us to contribute your ideas to the conversation!
The details:
See you there!
Jonas (with Meredith Lehman, and Ali Gümüsay)
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Jonas Spengler
University of Cambridge
CAMBRIDGE
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