Abstract
Management and humor are becoming more closely interlinked in contemporary organisations. Whereas humor was conventionally viewed as a deleterious and alien element at the workplace, it is to day increasingly conceived as a positive management tool. This development makes pertinent the question of the critical or subversive potentials of humor in the current context. The article discusses three re search approaches to management and humor – an
instrumental, an ideological critical, and a poststructural – and it considers their particular analytical forces. Furthermore, the article situates humor in a
broader historical and cultural context and seeks to develop some suggestions on what a critical humoristic practice could imply in light of the current
management context. Our point of departure is primarily Žižek’s critique of ideology and the way it has been applied in recent critical organization studies.
instrumental, an ideological critical, and a poststructural – and it considers their particular analytical forces. Furthermore, the article situates humor in a
broader historical and cultural context and seeks to develop some suggestions on what a critical humoristic practice could imply in light of the current
management context. Our point of departure is primarily Žižek’s critique of ideology and the way it has been applied in recent critical organization studies.
Original language | Danish |
---|---|
Journal | Nordiske Organisasjonsstudier |
Volume | 15 |
Issue number | 1 |
Pages (from-to) | 55-77 |
Number of pages | 23 |
ISSN | 1501-8237 |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Keywords
- Humor
- Management
- Critique of ideology
- Cynical reasoning
- Zizek