Organization and Management Theory OMT

Join our discussions at the in-person AOM Symposium on "The Contestation and Appropriation of Public Space"!

The ways in which public spaces are used, misused, and even abused have become of growing interest to scholars across the social sciences. However, we know relatively little about the ways how public space is used, changed, and maintained. This has led to the emergence of important questions regarding public space that we begin to address in this symposium, including: How do different groups of individuals define and use public space? What types of public space are needed and for what purposes? How and why has the understanding of public space changed over time? How does the privatization of public spaces impact social stability and equality? To address these questions, we present four studies about public space that embrace a variety of empirical and theoretical contexts.

Our intent is that the four papers will set up some lively discussion with members of the audience - facilitated by @Tina Dacin - that will in turn spark new directions of research in an understudied area.

Paper presentations: 

The Appropriation of Public Space: Anti-Restriction Protests during the COVID-19 Pandemic
@Giulia Cappellaro; Bocconi U.
@Amelia Compagni; Bocconi U.

Reinforcing Systems of Exclusion: The Role of Public Space
@Laura Fey; Doctoral Student, U. of Edinburgh
@John Amis; U. of Edinburgh

Where do Places of Social Inclusion come from? Exploring the Institutional Genesis of Public Parks
@Santi Furnari; City, U. of London
@Elena Giovannoni; Royal Holloway School of Business and Management

Managing Public Places in Organizational and Institutional Change
@April Wright; Warwick Business School
@Gemma Irving; U. of Queensland
@Asma Zafar; Brock U.
@Trish Reay; U. of Alberta)


For further information, see details in the Annual Meeting Program: 

82nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management: Virtual Meeting Details (aom.org)


Best wishes,
Laura