Gibson Burrell – författare

'The author pursues a vigorous polemic on organisational development' - Financial Times

In this irreverent and inventive book, Gibson Burrell seeks to circumvent the established frameworks which have defined our understanding of organization and organizations. He brings us tales from under the edge which enmire us in the nether side of modernist organization.

By looking backwards deep into the history of Western societies, and sideways across the broad domain of social and cultural theory, Pandemonium disconcerts and invigorates the domain of the study of organizations.

Through his experimental device of the two-directional text, Burrell offers multi-layered meanings and a metaphor for the rejection of linearity. This is not an organizational behaviour textbook but an exploration that will take organization theory into a new era.

'The author pursues a vigorous polemic on organisational development' - Financial Times

In this irreverent and inventive book, Gibson Burrell seeks to circumvent the established frameworks which have defined our understanding of organization and organizations. He brings us tales from under the edge which enmire us in the nether side of modernist organization.

By looking backwards deep into the history of Western societies, and sideways across the broad domain of social and cultural theory, Pandemonium disconcerts and invigorates the domain of the study of organizations.

Through his experimental device of the two-directional text, Burrell offers multi-layered meanings and a metaphor for the rejection of linearity. This is not an organizational behaviour textbook but an exploration that will take organization theory into a new era.

Clearly and accessibly, the authors show various ways in which the very processes of organization reflect power relations suffused with dominant forms of sexuality. Specific subjects addressed include sexuality and the labour process, sexual harassment, men's sexuality, lesbians in organizations, and the experiences of women managers and secretaries.

This shortform book presents an overview of theoretical and empirical work in the field of organization theory. In doing so, it both provides a critical analysis of the state of knowledge in the field and offers recommendations for future directions.

It is about both thinking differently, and considering what is already known within Organization Theory. With coverage of the foundations of organisation studies, the importance of bureaucracy, and insights into institutional approaches, the book also makes space to consider the key role of alternatives in the development of the field. A panoply of modes of organizing the modern economy and civil society have arisen wherein it is often said that the platform has replaced the pyramid. Yet, in 2022, the pandemic underscores the state’s responsibility to maintain public health through centralized and coherent organization rather than outsourcing, subcontracting and the gig economy. The book offers a new direction for research focusing upon ‘organizational camouflage’, where the unmasking of the large hierarchical corporation’s enduring role in governing our everyday lives would become Organization Theory’s revelatory task.

Organization Theory: A Research Overview will be of value to researchers, scholars and students in the fields of business and management, especially those interested in the intersection of politics and organizations.

This shortform book presents an overview of theoretical and empirical work in the field of organization theory. In doing so, it both provides a critical analysis of the state of knowledge in the field and offers recommendations for future directions.

It is about both thinking differently, and considering what is already known within Organization Theory. With coverage of the foundations of organisation studies, the importance of bureaucracy, and insights into institutional approaches, the book also makes space to consider the key role of alternatives in the development of the field. A panoply of modes of organizing the modern economy and civil society have arisen wherein it is often said that the platform has replaced the pyramid. Yet, in 2022, the pandemic underscores the state’s responsibility to maintain public health through centralized and coherent organization rather than outsourcing, subcontracting and the gig economy. The book offers a new direction for research focusing upon ‘organizational camouflage’, where the unmasking of the large hierarchical corporation’s enduring role in governing our everyday lives would become Organization Theory’s revelatory task.

Organization Theory: A Research Overview will be of value to researchers, scholars and students in the fields of business and management, especially those interested in the intersection of politics and organizations.

Robert Cooper, who died in 2013, was the leading theorist of organization working in England over the past few decades. Describing himself as a ‘social philosopher,’ he was one of the first writers to introduce post-structuralist and post-modern thought into theories of organization but was always reluctant to reduce what he did to being part of ‘Management.’ Instead, he concentrated on thinking about organizations and organizing, working with ideas about entity and process views of organizations, and also the dualisms of organization/environment, organization/disorganization, and concentrating particularly on ideas of the boundary or seam which divides and conjoins. He wrote about, and was influenced by systems theory and post-structuralist philosophy, particularly Whitehead, Bateson, Deleuze, Derrida, Foucault and Simmel.

Cooper has already been the subject of much commentary but much of his work is not well known, and it deserves a wider readership. The purpose of this collection is to gather together a body of essays which are widely dispersed in journals and edited collections. This is a repository of pieces and extracts which stand the test of time, and scholars will benefit from a collection which pulls together some of his most influential work. The collection also contains two essays, one biographical and one intellectual, about Cooper and his work.

Robert Cooper, who died in 2013, was the leading theorist of organization working in England over the past few decades. Describing himself as a ‘social philosopher,’ he was one of the first writers to introduce post-structuralist and post-modern thought into theories of organization but was always reluctant to reduce what he did to being part of ‘Management.’ Instead, he concentrated on thinking about organizations and organizing, working with ideas about entity and process views of organizations, and also the dualisms of organization/environment, organization/disorganization, and concentrating particularly on ideas of the boundary or seam which divides and conjoins. He wrote about, and was influenced by systems theory and post-structuralist philosophy, particularly Whitehead, Bateson, Deleuze, Derrida, Foucault and Simmel.

Cooper has already been the subject of much commentary but much of his work is not well known, and it deserves a wider readership. The purpose of this collection is to gather together a body of essays which are widely dispersed in journals and edited collections. This is a repository of pieces and extracts which stand the test of time, and scholars will benefit from a collection which pulls together some of his most influential work. The collection also contains two essays, one biographical and one intellectual, about Cooper and his work.