When performativity fails: Implications for Critical Management Studies

This article argues that recent calls in this journal and elsewhere for Critical Management Studies scholars to embrace rather than reject performativity presents an overly optimistic view of (a) the power of language to achieve emancipatory organizational change and (b) the capability of lone Criti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human relations (New York) Vol. 69; no. 2; pp. 257 - 276
Main Authors: Fleming, Peter, Banerjee, Subhabrata Bobby
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.02.2016
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects:
Critical theory
Discourse analysis
Discourses
Emancipation
Human relations
Language shift
Management
Management theory
Optimism
Organizational behavior
Organizational behaviour
Organizational change
Organizational power
Organizational research
Performativity
Power
Research methodology
Research methods
Studies
emancipation
Critical Management Studies
performativity
ISSN:0018-7267, 1741-282X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This article argues that recent calls in this journal and elsewhere for Critical Management Studies scholars to embrace rather than reject performativity presents an overly optimistic view of (a) the power of language to achieve emancipatory organizational change and (b) the capability of lone Critical Management Studies researchers to resignify management discourses. We introduce the notion of failed performatives to extend this argument and discuss its implications for critical inquiry. If Critical Management Studies seeks to make a practical difference in business and society, and realize its ideals of emancipation, we suggest alternative methods of impact must be explored.
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ISSN:0018-7267
1741-282X
DOI:10.1177/0018726715599241